Open Awareness Meditation Basics

These supplemental suggestions are most useful after you've arrived at some stability in concentration meditation practice.

INTENTION

Remember why you meditate: to clearly perceive what life's truly about, who you really are. Advanced meditators like Adyashanti would call this the "desire to awaken to the ultimate nature of reality."

PHYSICAL POSTURE - ALERT, DIGNIFIED

While sitting (or standing), let the sternum (breastbone) gently rise upwards towards the chin, & let the scapulae (shoulder blades) be flush against the back (not sticking out), with the lower portions of the scapulae gently pulling downwards. Holding these two counterbalancing energies maintains a healthy, sustainable posture.

Mild physical effort is sustained - an overall rising energy from tailbone to crown (top) of the head. The rest of the body - jaws, neck, shoulders, arms, legs, etc - all relax, supported by the balanced, vertical spinal column. As soon as we notice unnecessary tension arising, we gently release it if possible.

Remain still, not stiff.

Alert, relaxed body = Alert, relaxed mind.

MENTAL "POSTURE" - ALERT, CURIOUS

Knowing that ordinary practical knowledge has minimal reach in this arena, remember great humility - "beginner's mind" or better still, "don't know mind"!

Thoughts, self-talk, images, feelings, emotions etc - the "content" of awareness - all naturally arise, exist briefly, then cease.

"Leave the front door open,

Leave the back door open,

And don't serve tea." Shunryu Suzuki

Keep noticing, accepting, gently, patiently letting go of & letting be, all "contents": self-talk, impatience, fear, urge to control, self-judgment, daydreaming, sleepiness.

With alertness & curiosity, focus attention primarily on the silence ("context").

Listen to the silence between sounds.

Simply rest as awareness, attending to the quiet.

Let a question arise - inquiry - relating to the ultimate nature of reality, a question vitally relevant to you. Let it go into the silence and be still. Each time your question arises, let it go into the silence and be still. In this way, the question leads deeper into silence, and the silence leads deeper into the question. Question and silence then function as a dynamic whole, making way for revelation and awakening. www.adyashanti.org