When I teach meditation I stress not only what we are doing but also the assumptions we bring to the simple practice of listening. We can view meditation as a form of spiritual seeking, of looking for something that we think we lack, or of trying to complete ourselves somehow, but meditation begins with the acknowledgment of what is already present, instead of the search for what is not or what we imagine is not present.

I see meditation not only as the art of deep listening but also as the acknowledging what is always and already present. We must stop looking for something and chasing after something, even if that something is silence, stillness of mind, and peace. We must stop looking for these things as if they are absent from our current experience; they are the foundation of our current experience.

~Adyashanti

our hidden shadows are really these little nuggets of truth…..like little baby animals lost in the midst of a great forest….

inquiry for today~   how you can’t remember is a subtle reminder to turn back and listen for what you’ve left behind……

like wings folding in

We experience an even higher consensual joy in the various stages of insight and awakening. Here it is not the absorption in the unworldly pleasant feelings of concentration, but the special happiness of clear seeing- that is, seeing deeply and vividly the changing, selfless nature of all that arises. And as insight practice matures in various ways, there is an even more refined kind of happiness.

As a simple experiment in meditation, when you’re sitting, you might ask the question, “What’s the attitude in the mind right now?” This question often illuminates whether the mind is holding on in some way or wanting some other state to occur, and is a direct application of mindfulness of mind. Often, just in asking the question, we can feel the mind relax from a clinging or aversion we hadn’t even realized was there.

~Joseph Goldstein