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Guided Meditation: The Sources of Awareness

Greetings, welcome to this session of meditation.

One of the important or useful things to notice in mindfulness meditation is what is going on for you. What drives the direction of your attention? What is it that gets your attention, and how do you bring your attention to things?

What I partly mean by this is that whenever your mind gets involved in something—whether it's thoughts, emotions, body sensations, the sounds around you, or anything at all—does the way in which the mind brings its attention to it have any quality of greed or of non-greed? Does it have any quality of contraction or tightness? Any sense of lack, or any sense that there's something wrong here? A sense of alarm, concern, or even worry? It's okay if it does that. It will hurt if you do it that way, but it's okay.

But there's a whole other side to how we can pay attention. Attention doesn't have to come from a sense of lack; it can come from a sense of fullness—inner fullness, inner contentment, inner wholeness. The mind does go to pay attention to all kinds of things, but as it does so, it does so with a sense of interest. A sense that there's no lack here. The source—the place from which we are attentive—has no problem. There's nothing off. There's nothing dissatisfying. There's no sense of lack or wanting. If anything, there's a sense of fullness, a sense of aliveness, of goodness. The source, the place from which we bring our attention, is already at home.

I've tried to paint these two different sides. As we do this meditation, you might notice as the mind goes to pay attention to something, or as you direct the mind to the breathing or anything at all, see if you can notice the attitude behind it. What is the mode of how you feel that's behind what drives your attention, or that informs or influences your attention? Does it come more from something like a sense of lack, or more from a sense of fullness or contentment?

Those are vague words, and maybe it's better to keep it somewhat vague. It's more like you lean one direction or the other. So, the source from which you are aware, the quality of the awareness: does it have a sense of lack—and then maybe desire, greed, aversion—or does it have more of a sense of fullness, contentment, or peace? And this is independent of what the object of attention is. This is how we pay attention.

So, to sit upright, or take the posture that allows you to be comfortable and alert, and let there be a gentling of the body. Gentle yourself into your embodied experience. There is no rush here to meditate.

Gently close your eyes. And gently, as a ritual of re-familiarizing yourself with yourself, re-discovering yourself, take a few long, deep breaths. Long, deep, gentle breaths.

Now, as you exhale, lower yourself into your body, as you would lower yourself into a refreshing pool of water, or a warm pool of water if that feels nicer.

And as you exhale, perhaps you can soften any of the tensions that might exist in the area of your brain: the forehead, the eyes, the jaws. Some of the places associated with thinking, pressure, contraction. Not holding the mind in, not holding the mind tight. Exhaling, and letting the mind be released.

And then one more long, deep breath, with the exhale letting go deep into the body.

If it's possible, if it's easy enough, see if you can find within—someplace maybe unique to you—a place that feels as if there is no lack. As if there is no problem. A place of contentment, at-homeness, ease.

And perhaps you can breathe with this inner sense of non-lack. Breathing in and out as if there's no work to be aware, except to be open and welcoming to the experience of breathing. In the way that an open window is welcoming for the breeze to come into the house, allow the breeze, the movements of breathing, to come into awareness.

Whenever your attention leaves the breath for something else, whether intentionally or unintentionally, notice what is the source from which attention arises. Does that source feel healthy or unhealthy? Does it feel nourishing or not nourishing? Does it feel wholesome or not wholesome? Is it informed by a sense of lack, and need, and wanting, or is it informed by a sense of contentment and no problem?

See if you can be aware of it all in the simplest matter-of-fact way, where just to be aware of it all is enough. Awareness that doesn't add anything extra, just aware.

Notice if within, in some corner of your inner life, there is a place where there's a peacefulness, or contentment, or enoughness, fullness, no problem. And see what it's like to be aware, mindful, with that as a reference for informing how you're aware. And when you're aware in a different way, see that clearly.

It can be harder to have goodwill if there is a feeling of lack within. Not impossible, but it's harder than when there's a feeling of the opposite of lack: of fullness, of contentment, or at-homeness with oneself.

And as we come to the end of the sitting, perhaps whatever sense—even a very small sense—you have of settledness, un-neediness, non-lack... whatever sense of at-homeness you have here, from there, gaze upon the world with goodwill. Gaze upon all things kindly.

And with no need and no lack, no diminishment of ourselves, there can be the desire, the aspiration to live a life that betters this world. In whatever small and big ways we can, to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of others, to make their lives a little easier. For no other reason than because they know or sense that we're a friend to them.

May it be that on this day, we allow ourselves to be friends to all beings. May it be that we are friendly in caring for the welfare and happiness of all beings everywhere.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.