The Refuge of the Virtual World
El Refugio del Mundo Virtual
This meditation invites you to notice the subtle, constant pull away from direct sensory experience and toward the familiar inner world of me.
The Refuge of the Virtual World
Settling in
We can settle in a comfortable position,
relaxed, with eyes open or closed.
We're going to explore the experience of how
we immediately find refuge in the sense of separation.
The refuge in the mind.
The refuge in the virtual world of me.
The refuge in contraction and control.
It's a very subtle process to look at
because it's so constant.
You can feel into it.
There's like gravity, a magnetic pull.
Bringing awareness to sensation
You can bring your awareness to some sensation in your body.
It could be as simple as your hand, your foot.
Your attention can be without effort.
Very subtle awareness of the sensation of your hand.
Then you can watch the refuge in action.
Just notice how your attention is pulled away from that sensation.
Don't fight it, just observe how it happens.
It happens in many ways.
For example, the famous monkey mind, distraction,
thoughts just completely going away from the hand sensation
and to the past, the future, something else.
The refuge of the mind.
The virtual world of me.
Noticing the pull
You notice and go back to the sensation gently,
but notice what is actually happening.
Feel that gravitational pull away from the sensation.
The sensation of a hand is mystery.
It is the space of the unknown,
the contact with the universe, infinite, timeless.
Then the gravitational pull away from sensation.
You might be pulled into other sensations,
jumping around body sensations or sounds.
Just notice.
The claim of ownership
The sneakiest way we take refuge is by a claim of ownership of the sensation of a hand.
The refuge is me in here sensing.
A line: me here, and there.
It's reinforcing.
Could there be a space?
Glimpses.
Moments where it is just sensation.
No naming, claiming, owning.
Raw, unfiltered experience.
Notice the immediate, subtle overlay of "me here sensing my hand there."
What is that sense of me here sensing?
Notice it,
that virtual sense of an inner world of me.
Myriad kaleidoscope of images, thoughts, memories,
somehow anchored into the body,
the space of the head or the chest.
Sinking into the mystery
So subtle.
Effortlessly sink into the sensations, the mystery, infinite.
As you do this, just noticing that some shifts might begin to occur.
It could be anything.
Irritation, anxiety, or something calming, expanding.
Just new sensations.
Keep noticing the gravitational pull to the virtual world of me.
Notice how incredibly powerful this is, this pull.
Leaning into sensation
Lean into sensation,
actively choosing a preference for all sensation
over that virtual world of me.
It is like flying out of the cage,
and something so deep and profound, just dying to stay,
calling back into constriction.
Lean into all sensations, perceptions, sounds,
the sense of the space, the air, the room around you.
Spreading out the world of me so thin,
as if it is dissolving into space, towards infinity.
Riding the breath
Ride the breath.
Every inhale is a wave spreading your attention outward
into sensation, perception.
Forget the world of me for now.
Keep paying attention.
Noticing that pull.
Nudging your attention out,
inhaling into sensations.
The world of me is a loop, repeating.
The world of sensation and perception is mystery,
never the same, always changing.
Choose the preference of always new, always changing
over always the same, always repeating.
Sow the seeds into the fertile land of reality,
into the space, sensation and perception.
It is also you.
When you extend to infinity, what is left?
Coming back
Notice if there has been any subtle shift
in your sense of contraction,
your sense of boundaries and size.
Invite yourself to leave without leaving behind any subtle shift.
If there are new sensations of tension or anxiety,
let's make space for them.
And as you open your eyes,
notice that everything you see is out there.
Feel the strongest pull of all.
Notice that pull as you open your eyes.