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Guided Meditation: Opening the Mind

Greetings and welcome to the continuation of our exploration of mindfulness of breathing. By now, I think you'll understand that mindfulness of breathing involves much more than breathing, but that breathing—mindfulness of breathing—is a kind of foundation on which we begin to open up our awareness to more and more of our experience.

At some point, as we open up to our body, our feelings, our mindset, and our mind states, there is a kind of expansion. "Opening" is the metaphor I like to use, so it's not narrowly focused only on the breathing. As we do this, the very idea of opening, the feeling of opening, the experience of opening becomes more and more salient and experientiable. More and more, this stands out: the sense of opening. In contrast to that, it's possible to feel the closing. This movement that I'm calling opening and closing can be represented by many words and ideas.

The Buddha used the concept of "obstructing"—that sometimes we cover over, and certain activities of mind obstruct, while others remove the obstruction and bring more expansion and openness of attention. We can see that relatively easily in some circumstances in life, where very quickly we can suddenly get completely caught up in some concern. The mind, attention, everything gets focused very tightly around a preoccupation. Someone says something to us which is maybe disrespectful, and the whole universe collapses around that disrespect, our feelings, our ideas, our thoughts, or maybe our fears, resentments, whatever it might be. We get swimming in that, and that's the story of it, and so maybe there's not much openness anymore to take a bird's-eye view of the situation, what just happened, and what's happening with us.

At other times, we have that bird's-eye view. We have this broad field of awareness, and we're relaxed and open. Someone might do the same thing, say something disrespectful, but we don't close down. In fact, maybe we do the opposite; we actually open even more. We think, "Oh, what's going on here? What's happening here? I don't quite understand all this, but this is a time to be present and open and take in the full range of what's happening—myself, the context, the other person." There's a clear feeling of opening.

Being preoccupied and caught up in things is something that the Buddha says brings blindness and a lack of wisdom. This movement towards opening is a movement towards wisdom and vision.

Getting a sense of this difference is an important part of this practice. This becomes more relevant in the process of mindfulness of breathing, as we become more attuned to the state of mind, because it's the state of mind that shifts and changes. We certainly can know that we're preoccupied with resentment, hurt, or desires, and we lose touch with everything else around us. We can know that we're involved in that. But to appreciate the impact that preoccupation has—how it shifts the mind state, the quality of awareness, the openness of awareness, the ease and receptivity of awareness—that becomes interesting.

Notice this movement between closing down and opening up—covering over and being preoccupied versus having available attention that's open and available because it's not preoccupied. As practice goes along, there's a shift of attention from the details of our life, the stories of our life, the history of our life. A shift even from our beliefs and ideas, desires, aversions, and opinions to the quality of the mind state, and we become the custodians of that quality. No one else can be the custodian of the quality of our inner life. Begin finding a relaxed, easy way to track it, know it, and be able to gently keep opening. Keep finding the way of peace, keep finding the way where the mind state is receptive and open with real wisdom, so that we're safe in the situation and can take care of ourselves.

So that's the background for this meditation.

If you can, begin by assuming a meditation posture. If it's possible, choose a posture that already expresses a kind of openness and availability to life, to experience.

For me, sitting cross-legged, I sometimes really like taking my hands on either side of my hips on the floor or mat next to me and lift myself almost off the cushion. As I'm lifting up, I roll my shoulders back a little bit and release. If I do that, the shoulders roll back a little bit, and the chest naturally feels more open. That openness of the chest can be one reference point for being open.

Then gently closing your eyes.

With this idea of openness, we can be open-handed. You might take a few moments to relax your hands, and maybe even turn your hands palms upward so the hands are open and available. Sometimes expressing openness in the posture is supportive for the heart and the mind to become open.

Perhaps you can, as you exhale, relax the shoulders. Soften in the shoulders. Whatever softening and release happens in the shoulders, let that travel down into your chest. Whatever reference point you have for being open-hearted, see if you can establish yourself as open-hearted.

Open-chested.

As you exhale, relaxing the muscles of your face. Sometimes those muscles are very intimately connected to what's happening in the mind—the tightness, scrunching up, the pulling in. Very subtly, the micro-muscles of the face... it's as if the mind is a puppeteer with strings that go into the micro-muscles of the face.

Relax the face around the eyes, the forehead and temples, the cheeks, and the jaw. It might even be helpful to open your mouth slightly so the jaw is not clenched. Then gently, softly float the teeth back together, the mouth back together, so there's a light touch with your lips.

Whatever reference point you have for this, as you exhale, can you allow your mind to become open? To be open-minded to your experience now. Open-handed, open-hearted, open-minded.

Take a few moments also to set your body at ease. Be easy with how things are in your body. Maybe easing up if there's any heaviness, contraction, or resistance in your body. See if you can find even a slight sense of ease being present for your body.

If possible, set yourself at ease in your heart, with your emotions. Ease up on how you're feeling, be easy with it.

Then set your mind at ease. In whatever way you can, ease up a little bit on what's in the mind or be easy with it, so the awareness becomes a little broader, more available to receive. Awareness is not recruited to help us focus on our thoughts, desires, aversions, and fantasies. Instead of being recruited to close down and narrow its attention, let the awareness be at ease and open. Receptive.

Within whatever openness is here, whatever ease is here, attune yourself to the breathing. The in-breath and the out-breath. Breathing through or with open awareness, easeful awareness.

As you exhale, letting go of your thoughts. And as you do so, see if there can also be an opening to a wider awareness, or opening to opening. Allowing the mind to have more space and room to silently be aware of breathing and the body.

Appreciating any sense of openness or ease in the state of mind, state of heart. Breathing with it, and notice the small and big movements of losing that openness, contracting, getting caught up in something. It's nothing you have to feel bad about or criticize yourself for. Simply be sensitive to that distinction, sensitive to the way the mind moves. It can move from being open to being more closed, from being relaxed to being contracted and preoccupied, or being available and open.

Breathing with it all, being easy with it all. But clearly aware of the difference and how the mind can move around to different degrees of openness and less openness.

No need to analyze or figure anything out. Stay very simple with appreciating if the mind gets more open or more closed. Appreciate which direction mental activity is taking you, and see if you can keep choosing to stay open. Move more towards opening. It's very forgiving; it doesn't require a lot of understanding of what's happening, justifying, or criticizing. It's just a very simple movement: opening or closing. And when you can, choose the opening. Choose awareness.

Being upset about the mind closing down is to do even more closing. Being equanimous about the mind closing down is to contribute more opening. As we become more aware and simply recognize what's happening, allowing the recognition to be wide and open.

And then in the last minutes of this sitting, maybe knowing it's the last minutes, you could let yourself become more open. Maybe quiet the mind more and open up in a way that the heart and mind is broad and silently receptive. Whatever degree of ease, just being here in a certain way. Nothing to do, nothing to be, nothing to prove. Just here with awareness, open, relaxed, maybe even soft.

And perhaps trying to keep it that way and see what happens. Bring to mind some person that has been part of your life lately or will be today, and see if you can hold the image, the idea of this person in your mind without closing. Without getting caught up in thoughts, stories, and feelings. Just for a few moments, let the idea of the person float in the openness of the mind.

In doing so, does that make it possible to have more wisdom, more clarity about something about yourself and them? Might it make a little bit more room for a simple goodwill, friendliness, or generosity of heart?

If so, maybe softly, gently give expression to that goodwill with these words:

May this person be happy. May this person be safe. May this person be peaceful. May this person be free.

And may you, in staying open and at ease, in some ways contribute to this being possible. In some simple ways, can you contribute to their happiness, safety, peacefulness, and freedom, so at least they're safe from you.

And then to expand that goodwill out into the world more widely, but without closing down. Err on the side of staying open and simple.

And in that openness:

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