Tara Brach - Vipassana or Insight Meditation and Instruction: from Day 4 on Retreat

Episode Date: July 31, 2019

Vipassana or Insight Meditation and Instruction: from Day 4 on Retreat (2019-05-07) - Vipassana, also known as insight meditation, is training in bringing a clear mindful attention to our moment to moment experience. We begin by relaxing through the body and then resting attention with the breath – or some other sensory anchor – and allowing the mind to settle. Then we open to whatever is predominant or calling our attention – sensations, emotions, sounds – meeting each arising experience with a clear, kind attention. The gift of this process is discovering balance in the midst of the changing flow, and gaining deep insight into the nature of reality. NOTE: this is an instruction and meditation given in the morning of Day 4 at the IMCW Spring 2019 7-day silent retreat.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. This morning I'll briefly review and then we'll be expanding a bit on the instructions for practice with the most basic understanding being that for each of us it's a kind of an ongoing way that we're customizing and finding, it's that kind of intuiting into really what most will serve presence and open-heartedness in this moment.

Given that, the basic template of Apasanae mindfulness practice is that we collect in some way our attention with an anchor, a primary place of paying attention like the breath or sounds, And yet the intent is to open to whatever's predominant. And that means releasing a focus, let's say, just on the breath, if some strong wave of excitement or sorrow or fear comes up, we open to that. And the intention is to open with a true sense of allowing, of saying yes to what's here,

this belongs, this wave belongs, and an interest and a friendliness. So thus far we've explored opening to the whole domain of sensations and we've explored opening to different emotions and when we need to deepen our attention using the acronym rain as a way of bringing more interest and investigating and kindness into the the process. And we'll bring in today a bit more in the instructions on working with the arising of thoughts. Throughout we're having that intention to not fight thoughts but as much as possible to be awake so that they become like the clouds that were aware of there but we're not completely lost in them forever. The given is that we get lost.

and the possibility is that we just start noticing it more and more. And without judgment, because judgment just deepens the thickness of being lost, without judgment we relax open again and so that we, as if it's an airplane flying through a cloud, we re-enter open space and thoughts might come and go, but there's a sense of the real world, the wholeness of things. The particularly challenging thoughts, the ones that are charged, the invitation is rather than noticing them and coming back to the primary anchor, is to notice them and then explore into the body where their roots are.

Because if you have a thought that's filled with grasping, wanting things to be different, or felt aversion and resistance, if you try to come back to the breath, it'll just zap you away again. So it's only when we really go to the roots to where the feelings are in the body that we can begin to release some of the identification and have more of a whole kind of presence that lets them come and go. So just to invite you to explore that today and the only other thing to say is that if thoughts are very, very active, the more that you keep reestablishing your presence in your

body and your senses, the more space you'll find between the thoughts. So with that in mind, we'll take some moments to consciously arrive in that, embodied presence. Invite you to take a few long deep breaths. You might count to five with the in-breath and count to five with the out-breath, so they're matched. Breathing in and breathing out without a space

or pause between the breaths. Aware as you're breathing in of opening and receiving this life breath and with the out-breath, letting go, releasing, relaxing outward. It's full in breath, smooth, even out breath. And as you allow the breath to resume its natural rhythm, becoming aware of the quality of presence, it's right here.

Let the senses be awake, scanning through the body with awareness, noticing what might want to let go a little right now, nurturing that inner meta field, the feelings of the loving presence with the sense of a slight smile spreading through the eyes and the mouth. You might visualize and have the felt sense of a smile spreading through the heart, noticing how it doesn't cover over but actually can make space for whatever's here, allowing yourself to feel in the area of the heart, noticing if the shoulders might want to relax. back and down a little, falling away from the neck, letting the shoulders fill with awareness. So any habitual tightness or tension there can float a bit in awareness.

Intentionally softening the hands and softening again, noticing perhaps how much more experience can be received in that relaxed, softened space, tingling, vibrating, aliveness. Let there be an openness to the chest, allowing this next breath to be received in a softening belly, this breath, and now this one. And again, can sometimes be helpful to visualize and sense that smile at the belly. We tend to tense a lot, unconscious tensing through the midsection. So to consciously soften and just receive the life that's there can be quite helpful. And continuing to scan down again that image and sense of a smile spreading through

the pelvic region, letting the awareness fill that part of your body, the lower torso receptive to the aliveness, the sensations there. You know I'd sense this whole earth body, our extended body, and the energy in life flowing through the earth and through you, filling your whole body with the awareness and aliveness that's really here, and letting everything happen, not stopping anything. This whole field of sensation is letting life live through you. including the coming and going of sound,

resting in the awareness that's listening to and feeling this whole moment. In the foreground, this kind of changing symphony of sound, the spaces between sound, the sensations that come and go, feelings. And in the background,

this vast inner stillness, that which is aware, resting in that awareness, perhaps sensing in the foreground the anchor that most serves you, a very receptive presence with the anchor, as if you're listening to and feeling the breath or sound, or other sensations. Also aware of this background of presence that's our home. of noticing thoughts are really the beginning of waking up, as if you're coming out of the cloud and realizing the cloud's been there

and the mind's been inside it. And those are moments that are actually quite powerful, precious moments to become aware of what's actually here, the sounds that are actually happening, rather than the sounds, the audio of the thought, the space that's here. rather than the story, the static story and the thoughts and the living sensations, that if you re-relax your body, you can begin to receive in a very immediate, intimate way.

All of that aliveness gets cut off when we're inside the thought forms. So re-arriving here and notice the difference between any thought, being in a thought, and the vividness and immediacy of this living reality. Letting that be part of your re-ariving. Noticing the difference between virtual reality being in the story and the quality of heerness, whether it's pleasant or unpleasant, there's a pressure. consciousness and heerness. It's really the portal to freedom because the thinking trance can be subtle. It can be interesting and illuminating too periodically. Just ask, am I dreaming

right now? Just to shine a light on the mind and notice thoughts take all these different forms. Sometimes it's a living movie, 3D movie. with all modalities. Sometimes it's just kind of its background voice where we're talking to ourselves. Sometimes images, it's noticing if there's a veil between you and the immediacy of what's right here. Sometimes it's very obvious and there's a lot of feelings to go with the thoughts, in which case as you arrive back, come in into the body, check your throat, your chest, your belly. You can breathe with what you feel and just without having any sort of a cognitive inquiry,

feel into where the thoughts are coming from and be with whatever most might be calling your attention in your body. If the thoughts are more light-weight thoughts, to simply reawaken your your senses each time you come back, so you're fully here and get interested in what's arising in the space between thoughts, noticing where your attention is, noticing if there arises a layer of judgment, including what's here with kindness, with interest, reopening the attention, arriving back home in your senses by intentionally listening, receiving the sounds, letting them wash through you.

It's possible to let go a little bit more through the body and relaxing whatever separates you from feeling your heart. You can sense in the foreground this whole dance of feeling, sensation, sound. in the background, that vast stillness, that which is aware, that your refuge be this sacred space of presence. And close our sit with a short verse from the poet Donnefeld's, she writes, do not let the day slip through your fingers. But live it fully now, this breath, this moment.

catapulting you into full awareness. Time is precious, minutes disappearing like water into sand unless you choose to pay attention. Since you do not know the number of your days, treat each as if it is your last. Be that compassionate with yourself, that open and loving to others, that determined to give what is yours to give

and to let in the energy and wonder of this world. Experience everything, all the little necessary tasks of life as if for the first time pushing nothing aside as unimportant. You've received these same reminders many times before. This time, take them into your soul. For if you choose to live this way, you will be rich beyond measure,

beyond measure, grateful beyond words, and the day of your death will arrive with no regrets.