Breath, Thought, and Presence
Respiración, pensamiento y presencia
A gentle exploration of how thoughts, breath, and sensation all arise in presence, inviting you to tell them apart and rest in what remains.
Breath, Thought, and Presence
Settling into sensation
Just notice sensations.
Notice the breath.
Basic forms of meditation start with breath awareness,
and the reason is that it's the most guaranteed, always present source of direct sensation.
And it's the contrast of direct sensation with thought that makes it valuable.
The breath is always present.
Thoughts are always seducing our attention.
You can see it a little differently:
that we use thinking as a way to seduce ourselves away from the present.
Everything is presence
The breath is present.
Thoughts are present.
All of this is very simple.
Only the mind complicates it.
Is there such a thing other than presence?
Everything is present.
Everything is presence.
There is nothing other than this.
Nowhere to go.
Nothing to do.
Bathe in presence.
The mind creates the illusion
that there is something other than this,
that there is a different time, a different place,
and that I can get there.
That's it.
Where is this illusion happening?
In presence.
Where are these thoughts happening?
Right here, right now. Always that simple.
Contemplating time
Is time real?
Yes.
What is time?
Imagination.
Find time in your experience.
What is it?
What is the nature of time?
What is it made of?
Where does it exist?
Seeing thought as thought
Remain with the breath.
Contemplate the contrast between that which is like relaxed sensation:
breath, sounds, skin.
What else happens?
When we see a thought to be only a thought, we will enter the kingdom.
When we see a thought to be real, we fall.
It's that simple.
Thoughts are fine.
Thoughts are useful, or may be useful.
The trouble arises when we forget we are experiencing a thought,
and we do this. Trust me.
Most of what we experience as real is a thought.
And it is real, but only as a thought.
That's why it's called illusory.
Anchoring in sensation
Stay connected to the breath,
the awareness of sensation and breathing, the skin,
as you contemplate this.
Remain anchored in sensation as you contemplate this.
The mirage
If we are in the desert, earth and sky,
we see water on the horizon.
It looks like water.
It looks real.
And as we get closer, it moves away,
and we realize it is a mirage, an illusion.
Now, is it real or not?
It is absolutely real.
It is a reflection, a real reflection, a physical effect,
where the ground reflects the sky
and the blue that we see is nothing other than the sky,
a real reflection of the sky.
The illusion was the belief that it was water.
This is the nature of thought.
This is the nature of the mind.
Imagined futures, remembered pasts
We experience time through the mind.
We believe the future to be real.
It only exists now, as imagination.
How many futures can you imagine?
How many ways can you remember the past?
It's your choice.
You want to imagine scary futures?
It's up to you.
All happening in presence.
This is the nature of all thought, always.
Recognizing thought
Just notice that pull,
the temptation to make the world of thought something more than thought.
When you hear a sound, you know it as sound.
When you see a bird, you know it as the sight of a bird.
But a lot of what we think about, we don't recognize as thought.
Remain aware of your sensations and breath.
And playfully, without effort,
without striving,
without pushing,
without any pressure,
the attitude of a child exploring the world,
see what of your experience you could recognize to be made of thought.
Is there inner dialogue?
If there's inner dialogue,
notice it as sounds in the imagination, sounds of voices.
Notice concepts.
If you experience something like,
"This is uncomfortable. I don't like this,"
notice what the word "this" is referring to.
Is it referring to a sensation, or a thought, an interpretation of this sensation?
Notice if you're trying to feel or experience something.
That which you're trying to feel or experience, what is it made of?
Is it other than imagination, made of thoughts?
What remains
What is left if you put all mind aside, just for a moment?
Is it scary?
It's spacious.
Is it boring?
Is it empty?
Is it meaningless?
Trust this exploration.
Trust that it has value.
And experiment.
Explore.
Stay with your breath.
Let your heart lead.
The heart always leads to what is real love.
Thought in all its forms
Stay with the breath.
Notice thoughts to be only thoughts.
Thoughts can be images,
thoughts can be sounds,
thoughts can be sensations in the form of emotions,
thoughts can be concepts.
No thought is ultimately true.
It is only thought.
This might be uncomfortable.
Sit with it.
Sit with the discomfort.
Letting the heart lead
Let the heart lead.
Something in you is calling you to this, longing for this.
Let that longing grow.
Make room, because this is very vast, and noble, mysterious.
This is very beyond satisfying.
Allow the sweetness and the nectar of presence,
even if subtle, gentle.
Let it seep through your body, through your mind.
It is already everything:
all sounds, all sensations, all thoughts,
made of the empty sweet substance of presence.
Surrender
It's irresistible.
Once you taste it, you cannot go back.
Let it win.
Declare defeat.
Surrender to the mystery of not knowing.
Miraculous.
There are sounds that are miraculous.
There are thoughts that are miraculous.
Sensations.
What a miracle.
Intimacy with what is
Closer.
More infinite.
What is it that knows this?
What is it that experiences,
that for which we have the concept "I"?
That which knows a sound, is it something other than the sound?
That which knows the breath, is it something other than the breath?
The sound; there's only the sound.
More and more intimacy.
Notice the radiance, pristine clarity in everything.