Learning to Sit: From the Breath to Big Mind
Meditation is the best path I've found out of the mental bubbles we live in and back to the bright, direct world in front of us. This walk is a progression — from full instructions on the breath, through less and less guidance, into open awareness where everything is included. Begin with a drive through Aspen, and a bubble popping.
How Quickly We Get Lost in Our Stories: Come Back to the Richness of Real Life
That flash of waking up out of a bubble is exactly what meditation trains. Come learn the fundamental practice of calm-abiding — taking your seat, staying with the breath, coming back each time you've wandered off.
Fundamental Shamatha Practice
Now settle more fully into this moment. Let your posture say it: nothing to hide, nothing to prove.
Once you know the instructions, leave more space — the same precise practice of staying with the body breathing, with more room to work on your own.
Fewer words again. Place your attention on the breath going out, let it mix with space, and rest — finding your own way.
In all that silence you'll have met the threads — thoughts, judgements, fears, spun round and round into a protective shell. Let's go deeper: sit, follow the breath, and let them be without feeding them. Watch the cocoon begin to melt.
Melting Our Cocoon
Out of the cocoon, there's space. Now drop technique altogether and let your awareness extend into it — and then find that same space right here around you.
Open Space Awareness
Relax right down into the natural rhythm of life and ride the breath out into space. Here small mind loosens its grip, and you can begin to sense Big Mind — your true nature — and shift your allegiance toward it.
And now bring it into the noisy world. Meditation isn't about shutting things out until conditions are perfect — practice with the background noise, and let it all be included.