well now
the easiest way to get into the
meditative state is to begin
by listening
if you simply close your eyes and allow
yourself to hear all the sounds that are
going on around you just listen to the
general hum and Buzz of the world
as if you were listening to music don't
try to identify the sounds you're
hearing
don't put names on
simply allow them to play with your
eardrums and let them go in other words
you could put it let your ears hear
whatever they want to hear
don't judge the sounds there are no as
it were proper sounds or improper sounds
and it doesn't matter if somebody coughs
or sneezes or drop something it's all
just sound and if I am talking to you
right now and you are doing this
I want you to listen to the sound of my
voice just as if it were noise don't try
to make any sense out of what I'm saying
because your brain will take care of
that automatically you don't have to try
to understand anything just listen to
the sound
as you pursue that experiment you will
very naturally find that you can't help
naming sounds identify them that you
will go on thinking that is to say
talking to yourself inside your head
automatically but it's important that
you don't try to repress those thoughts
by forcing them out of your mind
because that will have precisely the
same effect as if you were trying to
smooth rough water with a flatiron
you're just going to disturb it all the
more what you do is this as you hear
sounds coming up in your head thoughts
you simply listen to them as part of the
general noise going on just as you would
be listening to the sound of my voice or
just as you would be listening to cars
going by or - birds chattering outside
the window so look at your own thoughts
as just noises and soon you will find
that the so-called outside world and the
so-called inside world come together
they are a happening
your thoughts are happening just like
the sounds going on outside and
everything is simply a happening and all
you're doing is watching it
now in this process another thing that
is happening that is very important is
that you're breathing and as you start
meditation you allow your breath to run
just as it wills in other words don't do
at first any breathing exercise but just
watch your breath breathing the way it
wants to breathe and the notice the
curious thing about this you say in the
ordinary way I breathe because you feel
that breathing is something that you are
doing voluntarily just in the same way
as you might be walking or talking but
you will also notice that when you are
not thinking about breathing your
breathing goes on just the same so the
curious thing about breath is that it
can be looked at both as a voluntary and
an involuntary action
you can feel on the one hand I am doing
it and on the other hand it is happening
to me
and that is why breathing is the most
important part of meditation because it
is going to show you as you become aware
of your breath that the hard and fast
division that we make between what we do
on the one hand and what happens to us
on the other is arbitrary so that as you
watch your breathing you will become
aware
that both the voluntary and the
involuntary aspects of your experience
are all one happening
now that may at first seem a little
scary because you may think well am I
just the puppet of a-happening the mere
passive witness of something that's
going on completely beyond my control or
on the other hand am I really doing
everything that's going along well if I
were I should be God that would be very
embarrassing because I would be in
charge of everything that would be
terribly a responsible position the
truth of the matter as you will see it
is that both things are true
you can see it that everything is
happening to you and on the other hand
you're doing everything for example it's
your eyes that are turning the Sun into
light
it's the nerve ends in your skin that
are turning electric vibrations in the
air into heat and temperature
it's your eardrums that are turning
vibrations in the air into sound and in
that way you are creating the world but
when we are not talking about it when
we're not full of philosophizing about
it then there is just this happening
this
and we won't give it a name now then
when you breathe for a while
just letting it happen
and not forcing it in any way you will
discover a curious thing that without
making any effort you can breathe more
and more deeply in other words supposing
you simply are breathing out and
breathing out is important because it's
the breath of relaxation as when we say
on heave a sigh of relief so when you
are breathing out
you get the sensation that your breath
is falling out dropping dropping
dropping out the same sort of feeling
you have as if you were settling down
into an extremely comfortable bed and
you just get as heavy as possible
and let yourself go and you let your
breath go out in just that way and when
it's thoroughly comfortably out and it
feels like coming back again you don't
pull it back in you let it fall back in
letting your lungs expand expand expand
until they feel very comfortably full
and you wait a moment and let it stay
there then once again you let it fall
out and so in this way you will discover
that your breath gets quite naturally
easier and easier and slower and slower
and more and more powerful so that with
these various aids listening to sound
listening to your own interior feelings
and thoughts just as if they were
something going on not something you are
doing but just happenings and watching
your breath as a happening that is
neither voluntary nor involuntary you
are simply aware of these basic
sensations then you begin to be in the
state of meditation but don't hurry
anything don't worry about the future
don't worry about what progress you're
making just be entirely content to be
aware of what is don't be terribly
selective particular say I should think
of this and not of that just watch
whatever is happening
you