Blazing Light, Love's Song

What is present moment awareness?

What has become clear over millennia of meditation, its sciences and practices, as well as various forms of research done over those same millennia is that present moment awareness is not one thing. It probably is not a “thing” at all, at least as phenomenally recognized. Yet, present moment awareness includes a variety of phenomenal experiences, characteristics and qualities that help us all know that, in that moment, for some ever-so short duration or sustained period, we are/one is in present moment awareness.

If you are reading this, you are likely a meditator; and you have a set of criteria that report -for you- present moment awareness. I do, too.

What has likely become obvious if you follow the meditations offered here over the years is that there a limitless ways to arrive at, support, and familiarize one’s self to present moment awareness (by any of its common or other language names). How marvelous!

Life is relation. All is related. No mind is actually a statement that begs the questions of what is mind, what is thinking, who is thinking, what is the complex set of factors that is what is called mind or thinking or wanting or rejecting.

We come back to breath, to its cycle, its circle, and to the inter-dependence that is life -our life- on this Earth with all beings.

I am sorry there is no podcast of today’s meditation. I messed up the zoom conversion.

We began with attention on our settling. Eyes open. The room, that which one is sitting on, the various textures that one’s senses were providing. This expanded to how fortunate each of us is to be together online, in the environment, we have, and a simple acknowledgment and rejoicing in that good fortune.

Then, into that good fortune, into that comfortable spaciousness that each of us was experiencing, we breathed in the difficulties of the world. It took, however, many breaths that it did, the focus was the intention of breathing in the difficulties of the world. Then, we breathed out benevolence and the wish that all beings have what they need.

This was verbally and slowly guided three times.

Then, into the heart of all goodness, we breathed in all the hardship of the world. It could be human hardship, or the hardship of salmon trying to go upstream to spawn and being obstructed by dams or old tires, and such. The hardship could be the hardship of the soil to retain its moisture, to provide for growth of plants, or the microbial life within the soil to thrive. The intention was the focus, not how many breaths one breed. Then we breathed out that all beings were relieved of hardship, and that all hardship was resolved. Several breaths would go; the intention to breathe this out was what mattered.

We took our time, abiding in peace, knowing that it would go into the world. Then, one last time, breathing in all the difficulties of the world, and breathing out the easing of those difficulties through benevolence. And finally breathing in all hardship, taking our time. And then breathing out that all hardship will be resolved, knowing that most of the hardship is human created and therefore can be humanly solved.

“Mind, no mind, mind is luminous.” Buddha Shakyamuni

We are still working with foreground/background as a technique to enter “no mind”, and some of its many meanings. Tonglen, which means “taking and giving”, considers what is in one’s experience of the moment or calls something  positive or conducive forward in one’s mind. From that, one contemplates one’s good fortune which encourages heartfelt consideration of those who, in this moment, are less fortunate. One, then, breathes in the hardship of others and breathes out their needs being met.

One breathes in as the vast embrace of compassion, not as one’s self. One breathes out from the vast potential of compassion that one is.