Tara Brach - A Listening Meditation

Episode Date: December 1, 2010

2010-11-17 - This guided meditation was given as a prelude to the November 17th talk on "A Listening Presence." Find more of Tara's guided meditations on www.tarabrach.com. Sign up for her new email list there, too.

Checking inwardly and sense what will help you make yourself at home right in this moment. It's a kind of inner listening, sensing how you might, if you need any subtle shifts of how your posture is, what will allow you to sit in a way that's upright, so there's a quality of alertness, yet at ease. And you might sense even what that's, that word means at ease, just a kind of softening or relaxing if that's possible.

You might take a few full breaths to collect your attention, inhaling deeply and exhaling, and be conscious of the letting go of the breath. Yeah. Now inhale again, a nice, full in-breath. And with the out-breath, sense a releasing, a softening, or relaxing. And again, inhale deeply. and slowly releasing the breath so that now as the breath resumes its natural rhythm. You can sense the possibility of relaxing, open with the in-breath, and letting go with the out-breath. Noticing how much more here you are right now than perhaps moments before. And just sense that quality of presence, a kind of homecoming. this heerness being right here, just listening to your heart and sensing your intention for

tonight. Sensing what matters to you, what the heart longs for. And sensing our shared aspiration that our time together may be of benefit, rippling out in all directions, serving the healing and happiness and freedom of all beings. And with this quality of presence and care, we bring our palms together and chant the simple mantra ome, which is the universal sound current of connectedness. I'll chant three times.

So please inhale deeply. Be a listening presence right now. Just put aside any notion of doing anything. Continue to relax. You might see if it's possible to relax just a little bit more, just relaxed attentiveness, letting there be a state of listening to sounds outside, listening with your ears, with your senses,

with your whole being, just shifting from the preoccupation with these particular bodies and minds so that we're listening to our environment, not to one particular thing, Just listen globally so that everything's taken in evenly listen to sounds and listen to silence

see what it feels like in your being to come into a state of listening not trying to do it right not to reach a goal you'll notice there are sounds these words the spaces between these words and the sounds in the room

and there's the feeling of sounds, and there's a space in the room, sensing into feeling the space in the room. Notice what happens when you sense into feeling the space in the room, the underlying quiet in the midst of sound. Let yourself feel that, silence, space around your body. Notice the surface the contact area between your skin and the outside of your body, the outside world, that contact area. Still listening, also including the exterior of skin, as it interfaces with the outward environment. Just try that. It's natural to be drawn into the sensation inside the skin. Very much like the outward environment, the inner, has things to listen to. Just listen and feel it. Letting go of any attempt to change experience

or to figure anything out. Listening to the aliveness around and within you, you might notice that this listening attentiveness has been carried off by a thought. Let that to be like a noise in the mind that happens. You're not trying to get rid of it. The purpose of meditation is just to be awake and notice what happens. Awareness does when left to its own devices. Just what happens. You might notice when you are often thought that you're no longer listening to the sounds right here. You're no longer listening to and feeling this moment. You might notice as you come into a state of listening, more spaciousness, more openness. Just notice that openness. just relaxing into that openness that's listening.

As awareness loses its fixation on the object, like thoughts, we start to rest in natural presence, in our natural state. Objects arise, the thoughts, and the feelings, but it's in this sense of great openness. So let your being feel what the openness is like, what the spaciousness is like. relaxing, listening, the more you rest in this listening presence, the more the boundary between the body and the outside dissolves. It becomes one life, not inside and outside. In this openness, there is awareness every moment. Awareness is present.

The space itself is aware. The space is pure weakness. Awareness is in a profound state of listening where there's not judging, controlling. You'll notice the tendency to go back into the trance of thinking. Not to judge that. Not even to resist.

With awareness, thoughts will stop pulling you so much in time into the trance of thinking. Just keep listening. relaxing. You might sense what's it like to be this awareness, this listening presence, just allowing everything to happen spontaneously. You may be listening to and feeling the sounds, washing through, the play of sensation, perhaps certain mood or feeling. This natural awareness just lets it happen, not controlling anything. Awareness isn't, trying to change you.

And in the presence of that, your body relaxes. Your mind can quiet. And around the heart can be released. In this space, when the question arises, what am I? Awareness presents itself, this wakeful openness. You might sense if it's possible to relax

just a little bit more right now. Relax and simply be this listening. presence. Pausing to relax. See if there's a natural letting go in the body, the heart. Simply listening to the sounds that are here and to the space they're happening in. Being the silence that is listening, resting in your natural state.