“Who Am I” Guided Meditation

I have this makeup artist that comes to make me pretty for the camera. And as she was putting makeup on me, she goes, so tell me all the secrets to happiness. And I'm like, wow, that's a big question. I suppose if we just don't think about it, we're happy. And it's so true. I mean, in our lives, I mean, we have all these roles that we play. You know, we're perhaps, you know, a wife, a father, you know, a mother, a husband, a daughter, doctor, lawyer, janitor, whatever it is. We have all these roles that we play in our everyday lives.

And.

It can consume us, literally consume the space that we are and fill up that space. And we believe heavily and identify with those roles. So we will do together a who am I Meditation. Who am I? Beyond the conceptual mind, beyond the roles that we play in life. And roles are okay as long as we can kind of like know, really know that that is not who we are. So deep within us, there is a presence, consciousness, the dao that cannot be named, but yet we can directly experience and know thyself, not through the conceptual.

Mind, but through awareness, being aware of itself.

So this day and age, maybe even some of you might be thinking, oh, my goodness, a 30 minute meditation. Well, it's now 20. But 20 minute meditation, that's just like too much. Maybe 10 minutes is good, five minutes is good. And now they have these apps that will count down for you to do a five minute meditation so you can become present. It's almost like gone are the days.

Where.

When we would sit down and meditate and you would sit for an hour to meditate.

I don't even know if those exist anymore.

However, I'd like to bring back 19 minutes now of meditation. So let's sit comfortably. I know we had lunch and maybe you had a lot of lunch and you know, your tummies may be full, but if you think that you may fall asleep, which often can happen during a meditation, perhaps sit away from the back so you're not leaning against your back of the chair. Whatever will be comfortable for you. Make sure your feet are flat on the floor. Or if you're sitting cross legged, that's fine too. But sitting up nice and tall. Either your hands can be face down on your lap or palms facing up.

And close your eyes.

Let's everyone take a deep breath and.

Just let it go with the sigh. Letting go of the morning. And one more time. Ah. And just becoming aware of your breathing, becoming aware of form. And your breath is form, unseen but Definitely felt. And perhaps some thoughts arise. They rise, just let them arise.

But let them go.

And return your attention to your breathing. Become aware of your body, feeling your sit bones on the chair, perhaps scanning your body from head to toe, noticing any tension, tightness, or maybe even pain, just simply observing it, feeling it, letting go of the label. And if emotions are there or they arise in you, just simply notice and feel and relax your body. Relaxing your forehead, relaxing your shoulders, your jaw. Relax your entire body it with the sense perceptions of your ears. Just notice the sounds that arise it. Now become aware of your inner body, that feeling of aliveness within. If you don't know what that feels like, just draw your attention to your hands and ask yourself, how do I know I even have hands? And just simply feel. So there's an awareness of the form dimension, the form of your breathing.

The.

Forms of emotions, thoughts, sounds, the body, the sensations in the body and the inner body. All that we can say is the world of form in this moment. Now see if you can become aware of the formless dimension, the awareness that you are aware. Awareness itself. Ask yourself, who am I? And notice maybe that the thoughts may.

Arise and your attention is in the.

Mind, looking for yourself in the mind. Your brain is such a small fraction of the totality of who you are. So simply be still, be aware that you are aware. The form dimension remains, but yet there is the essence of who you are, the presence. There's always forms that arise to keep your attention on the formless and stillness in which all forms arise and dissolve. Arise, dissolve. You are both those dimensions of form and formlessness. Become familiar. As Matthew Ricard said, we can say meditation, we can say contemplation, can say we become familiar with thyself. To know thyself beyond the conceptual mind, to know thyself as that spiritual dimension. That's why we are here, why we are on this planet, to evolve and awaken. So we can be in this world, but not of this world, can dance in this world, play our roles, but then lay them back down when we're just here sitting together.

Or at any.

Time you're at work, you play your role. But when you go home, you're no longer that teacher or doctor or lawyer or janitor, but to see our true selves. Non conceptually.

Is that inner happiness, is.

That joy, that peace that passes all understanding. So you can sit here with your eyes closed, or you can gently open them, taking in the world of form again. The world of form tells me it's zero minutes left. So I leave you here with yourself. Thank you.