Yoga Meditation: The Open Sky of Awareness

ask yourself the question what is the nature of my   mind prior to the arising of a  thought sensation or perception don't work this out rationally we are  experiencing the continual arising and   disappearing of thoughts sensations and  perceptions what is the nature of the medium or field in which your thoughts sensations  and perceptions are arising existing and vanishing in order for an email to appear relatively  speaking there must be some medium present prior   to the email upon which it can appear in order  for a cloud to appear there must be some medium   or field present in which the cloud can form in  order for a thought or an image or a feeling a   sensation or a perception to appear there must be  some medium or field present in which that object   of experience can arise exist and vanish what is  that going to answer this question with a word just become aware of the medium or the  field within which your experience arises   what is its nature notice that we cannot  find this field or medium as an object of   experience any object of experience would  be something that arises within this field whatever the medium or field within which are  thoughts sensations and perceptions arise it   must be inherently empty of thoughts sensations  and perceptions just by gun the screen of our   laptop is inherently empty of emails images and  videos if the screen were not empty there would   be no room on it for an email or an image if  the sky were not empty there would be no room   within it for the clouds if the median within  which all experience arises were not itself   empty of all objective experience there  would be no room for experience within it it is on account of the emptiness of  this filled emptiness of objective   content that is that the fullness  of experience can arise within it noticed that all possible thoughts images  feelings sensations and perceptions are   able to arise in this field not  just particular types of thought   or feeling but all possible thoughts  feelings sensations etc in other words   this medium or feel this wide open without  preference or discrimination or resistance   it is as such like empty space that does not  have the ability to resist whatever appears   within it however good or bad or pleasant  or unpleasant that appearance may seem to be notice that this open empty field or  medium within which all experience   arises is not an inert field it is  an unknowing field or an aware field whatever arises within it is  simultaneously known by it understand and feel that you are this open empty   aware field within which all experience  arises exists and into which it vanishes to refer to a a medium or a field or a space  in which our experience arises is not quite   right it is a concession to the mind that  wants to explore its experience imagine a   character in a dream who wants to explore  the nature of the knowing with which she   knows her experience the knowing with which the  dreamed character knows the dreamed world is of   course the dreamers mind and the dreamers mind  doesn't appear anywhere in the dream characters   world it cannot be found anywhere in the time  and space that the dreamed character seems to   experience in other words the dream takes  up no time or space in the dreamers mind my cries the the presence the space-like  presence in which our experience arises   that is our experience of time and space  and all the events and objects that appear   within it does not itself appear in  time or space it has no dimensions but as a concession to the mind that wants to  think about the reality of its experience we   permit ourselves to visualize the medium within  which both experience arises as a kind of field   or space so allow yourself to understand  but more importantly feel of yourself as   the open empty aware space or space like  presence within which all your experience   arises see that your thoughts flow through  this space like birds flying through the sky and just as the flight of a  bird leaves no trace on the   sky see that no thought leaves a  trace in the space of awareness in other words a thought doesn't scar awareness  it doesn't leave a trace of itself however   pleasant or unpleasant however kind or unkind  however true or false the thought maybe makes   no difference it appears it flows through  the space of awareness it manages leaving   awareness in its original pristine open empty  luminous or knowing condition remember I am NOT   speaking of some abstract metaphysical awareness  and speaking of ourself the very ordinary familiar   intimate awareness that each of us is if some  thoughts stained or scarred awareness we would   have to get busy disciplining or getting rid  of those particular types of thought we would   to have an agenda with them but no thought  irrespective of its content stains or scars   the open empty luminous field in which it  appears exists and into which it vanishes   so there is no need to have any agenda  whatsoever with the content of your thoughts the sky has no opinion about the quality  of the birds that fly through it or the   number of the birds one of the birds  may take issue with the other birds   but the sky itself never takes issue  with any of the birds likewise one   of our thoughts may take issue with  the quality or number of our thoughts but awareness itself never takes issue with  anything that is why it is always at peace a   piece that is not dependent upon the quality or  the number of thoughts we have but a piece that   is prior to and independent of the existence  and the quality and the quantity of thoughts ask yourself the question can I find an edge  or a limit to the field of awareness within   which my experience appears remember  awareness is the only one it is aware   so we are asking awareness can you awareness  can i awareness ever find a limit to myself awareness is the only one that is aware so  awareness is the only one that knows anything   about awareness what is awareness is experience  of its self if we ask thought what do you think   about awareness we all know what thought will  say thought has been trained by our culture to   believe that awareness resides in and is limited  to the body but what is awareness is experience of   itself trying now to find an edge to the field  of awareness in which your experience arises imagine empty space empty physical space and then imagine adding the quality of being  aware to empty space so it empty space empty   physical space is no longer an inert space it is  an aware space just imagine adding the quality   of knowing or being aware to empty space and now  we ask this aware empty space can you ever find   the edge of yourself what would empty space say  empties would explore its experience of itself and if it could speak it would say I find no edge  or limit or border to myself in my own experience   of myself I am without limits this is what it  means in the tradition when it says that awareness   is vast vaster than anything that appears in  experience because whole experience appears within   it now awareness is not really vast something  that is vast is something that is extended   indefinitely in all directions of space the only  reason it is said that awareness is vast is and   as a an antidote to the belief that awareness  is tiny or small that is housed in the body in relation to the belief that  awareness is tiny that is located   in the body it is legitimate as a  first step to consider it to be vast but in fact awareness is neither tar  a tiny no vast it has no dimensions so   having added the quality of being aware  or knowing to empty physical space so we   now have this aware empty physical  space now remove the physical space that's what awareness is don't try to think about   that it's not possible to think  about something with no dimensions it's not possible to visualize  something with no dimensions so   keep this understanding in the back of  your mind and permit yourself again to   visualize and feel yourself awareness  as a vast open empty luminous space   within which all the experience arises but  which itself has no edge or border or limit be knowingly this openness without limits if our thoughts could be likened to birds that  fly through the sky of awareness then our feelings   could be likened to clouds that float in the space  of awareness they are larger than the birds less   clearly defined and they tend to hang around  but longer than the birds they move more slowly if we are in love then these clouds will be  lightened quite and wispy if we are depressed   they will be dark and gray and ominous but in  both cases in all cases our feelings are like   clouds that arise within this open empty luminous  field they are suspended in this field they   flow slowly through this field and vanish into  it and just as no cloud leaves a trace on the   sky no feeling however dark or difficult it may be  stains the space of awareness in which it appears if the sky of awareness were harmed  in some way or stained in some way by   certain feelings then we would have to  have an agenda with those feelings we   would have to prevent them transform  them dissolve them etc but just as   no cloud leaves a trace on the sky so  no feeling leaves a trace in awareness awareness is always in the same open  empty pristine luminous condition remember I'm not speaking about some abstract  philosophical metaphysical awareness I'm speaking   about our self not the self that we might  become if we meditate for long enough or   practice hard enough but the self that we are now  the self that we have always been the self that   ultimately one with all experience  but he's never harmed or stained by it see clearly that no experience that  arises in this open empty luminous   field adds anything to it and when the  experience vanishes it removes nothing   from the field in other words the open  empty luminous space of awareness is   never a grand eyes door diminished by  experience and thus it has no vested   interest in experience no need to reject what  is present no need to seek what is not present be sensitive to any feelings of irritation  restlessness or boredom if we are irritated   or restless we are resisting what is present and  if we are bored we are seeking what is not present who is the one it is irritated restless or bored   it is not i awareness i awareness  knows nothing of such feelings what other self is there apart from i  awareness can you find another self in yourself give your attention to whatever sounds  are present ask yourself the question   are these sounds appearing in the same  median or field within which my thoughts   and feelings are appearing or do they appear  in a different field go back and forth with   your attention from a thought to a sound is  your attention always traveling in the same   field or as it moves from the thought to the  sound does it leave one field and enter another doesn't our attention have to leave  the field in which our thoughts and   feelings arise in order to encounter  a sound or is our attention always   traveling through the same medium  the same open empty aware medium see in this way that our thoughts feelings  and sounds all the rise and exist in the   same field now ask yourself the question  how much distance if any is there between   the field in which my experience  arises and any particular experience much distance is there between any experience  and the knowing of it is the faint sound of   the airplane further away from the knowing  of it than our current thoughts or feelings and when the sound vanishes does it leave the  field of awareness or does it merge into it and when a sound arises again is it initiated  outside the field of awareness and then enter   the field like an actor appearing on stage or  does it emerge from within the field of awareness and now your eyes to open a new perception arises  does this perception arise within the field of   awareness or outside the field of awareness don't  think about this just refer to your simple direct   experience go back and forth with your attention  from the current thought to the sight of this room is your attention always traveling in the same  field or when it leaves the thought and travels   towards the site does it leave one field called  the mind and enter another field called the world or is our attention always traveling  in the same seamless indivisible field   what we think about has limitations what  we feel has limitations what we here has   limitations what we see has limitations  but what about the field in which all   these arise does that have any limitations  in other words do you have any limitations do you start out as limited self and have to work   hard on yourself expanding yourself  and disciplining yourself in order to   finally become unlimited one day or are  you always already innately unlimited and now your eyes to close again allow  the experience of the body to come to   your attention not the memory of the  body not the idea of her body not the   not an image of the body but your  current raw experience of the body if our eyes are closed and I recommend we  keep our eyes closed to begin with and we   do not refer to memories ideas or images our  only experience of the body is the current   sensation or flow of sensations in fact without  reference to memory we cannot even be sure the   current sensation or flow of sensations is  a sensation of a body it's just a sensation so experience the current sensation as if  it were the first experience you had ever   had you can be like a newborn infant you  have no memory to refer to and no means   of conceptualizing your experience there  is just your raw experience raw sensation   but this is not a sensation of  something it's just a sensation continually I continuously vibrating  or pulsating sensation ask yourself the   question does this pulsating sensation  appear within the field of awareness or   outside of it is it my experience  that the sensation appears in the   field of awareness or is it my experience  that awareness appears in the sensation travel around inside the sensation  see if is seeing if you can find   a location for awareness a place at which  the knowing of your experience takes place are you located inside the sensation  or is the sensation located inside you are you a point of knowing or  awareness located inside this   sensation or is this sensation  a pulsating vibration hovering   in the immensity of your openness your  emptiness what is your actual experience ask yourself the question does this  sensation have a clearly defined border don't refer to an image of the body just refer to  your parent direct intimate experience just the   current sensation or flow of sensations does this  pulsating sensation have a clearly defined outline what size is the current sensation without  reference to thought images on memory the purpose of these questions is not to come up with a rational answer for each  question but rather to take us with each   question more and more deeply into the  experience itself tasting what is actually   there so don't allow your mind to answer any  of these questions where the words just ask   the question and the other question to take ly  take you one step deeper into your experience   we are not trying to change our experience we  are trying to touch or taste the reality of our   experience having touch thought tasted  the reality of our experience we can   decide for ourselves whether we think it needs  changing or not as the current sensation have   an age can you say from your experience  the current sensation is old or young without referring to thought or memory is  the current sensation either sick or healthy unless you are in intense pain is the  current sensation either pleasant or   unpleasant if we don't refer to thought or memory ask yourself the question if I don't refer to   thought or memory do I have  any experience of suffering notice that we are not trying to change  or manipulate our experience in any way   whatsoever we are simply contemplating it in a  disinterested way and in this in our disinterested   contemplation our experience is liberating  itself from superimposed beliefs and feelings allowing its reality to shine as it is can you find herself in the body see that the experience of the body is  pervaded by the open empty luminous field   of awareness within which it appears  and with which it is known but that   field is not limited to or by the body it  pervades the entirety of our experience   including the world so if we feel my  body we should really feel my world our   experience of the world is no less pervaded  by ourselves and his experience of the body the appearance of a sensation in  the open empty luminous space of   awareness doesn't divide or compartmentalize awareness any more than a cloud  divides or compartmentalizes the sky   the body is a ripple a pulsating vibration  appearing in the immensity of our openness ask yourself the question without reference  to thought or memory does the parent sensation   weigh anything how much does a sensation weigh  certain areas of the sensation may have a certain   intensity to it but without reference to thought  or memory this intensity is not evidence of weight how much does a thot weigh or a sand weigh  sensations are made after the same stuff that our   thoughts and perceptions are made out of they're  made out of mind stuff they don't weigh anything see that there are thoughts images  feelings sensations perceptions all   floating weightlessly in the immensity of  your openness can you find yourself anywhere and if there is no limited located  self present in our experience on   whose behalf does our suffering arise that's remained silent until  we're in the dining room thank you you

Channel: Rupert Spira

Views: 182,912

Keywords: Awareness, Meditation, rupert spira awareness, rupert spira awareness meditation, yoga meditation, rupert spira meditation, guided meditation, spirituality, Rupert Spira, Non-Duality, Ramana Maharshi, Atmananda Krishna Menon, Advaita, Non Duality, Consciousness, Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Zen, Shankaracharya, meditation guided, thoughts, feelings, experience, awakening, enlightenment, non duality explained, nondual, nondualism, nonduality, ontology, rupertspira, spiritual awakening, Vedanta

Id: Gk7ySCkO0gM

Length: 78min 32sec (4712 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 26 2019