Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [168]
SKY-GAZING MEDITATION
This is another example of a natural, elemental Dzogchen meditation. The sky, which represents the element of space, is without shape or color. No one can say exactly where it begins or where it ends. It just is.
Meditation leads us into a way of being that is in perfect harmony, attunement, and oneness with nature, including everything and everyone around us—and with our true nature too. In this sky-gazing meditation, we dissolve into the infinite by becoming one with the open sky.
Close your eyes. Still your hands. Have a seat. Take a deep breath, and let it out. And another. Relax. Let go. Drop everything. Rest naturally, and at ease.
Just for a moment, let everything pass by like waves in the sea, like clouds in the infinite sky.
Simply observe. Be still. And know. Everything is right here.
Let it be.
Let go and let be.
At ease. Nothing more to do. Nothing to figure out, understand or achieve.
Simply present.
Natural. At home and at ease.
Know yourself.
See things just as they are in the present moment.
Breathe in and out. Deeply and slowly. Letting it in, letting it out. Letting go a little more with each breath.
Let everything quiet down naturally, by itself.
Let the body settle naturally in its own place, in its own time. Let the mind settle naturally, in its own way, in its own time. Let everything go naturally for a few moments.
Moment by moment, one moment at a time.
Breathe, Smile, Be Aware
Breathe, Smile, Be Aware
Breathe, Smile, Be Aware
Now.
Open your eyes.
Raise your gaze.
Elevate the scope of the 360-degree sphere of total awareness.
Look at the sky.
Gaze evenly into space, with a soft focus.
(No eye strain necessary.)
Space, like mind, has no beginning and no end.
No inside and no outside. No actual form, no color, no size, no shape.
Mingle the gaze with space; merge mind with infinite, empty space.
Dissolve into space—spacious awareness.
Cast the breath into space, following the out-breath—out, out, out, out. Allow all thoughts, feelings, sensations, and emotions to come and go freely, casting everything off into vast space.
Gaze freely in vast space, into the open sky, in the crystal clear sphere of pristine awareness.
And let go, let go, let go.
Breathe out.
Breathe the sky in and out, and breathe and dissolve into the sky with your out-breath. Follow the out-breath—out, out, out …
Breathe out.
Open up.
Unfurl your infinite Buddha-mind.
Let it all go.
Let be.
Drop everything, past and future.
Drop off body and mind.
Mingle with the sky and slowly
dissolve totally into
the spacious luminous
joy of meditation.
After this melting into the sky you can just sit. Sit and enjoy the infinite luminous emptiness. Maybe a thought will arise, but now you know how to watch it come and watch it go. A feeling may present itself. It, too, passes away. Perhaps your concentration begins to flag. You know how to bring attention back, refreshing yourself, by observing anew the in-and-out motion of the natural breath, with more attention on following the out-breath, while letting go.
AHHH MEDITATION
To further enhance the sky-gazing meditation, we chant the user-friendly Dzogchen mantra Ah.
Take a deep breath, and with the exhalation, open your eyes and mouth wide, raise your gaze and chant a resounding, relieving
Ahhhh …
Again, breathe in deeply, and again exhale like a great, orgasmic release,
Ahhhhhhh …
As far as you can go.
Watch the breath.
In, out;
in, out.
Now chant Ah; Ahhh; Ahhhhhh
following the out-breath, dissolving into space.
Chant Ah again; then Ahhh; then Ahhhhhh,
with a huge exhalation, a cosmic out-breath.
Chant Ah, Ahhh, and Ahhhhhh at different volumes in different tones, emptying yourself totally while dissolving
outward with each out-breath.
Ah, Ahhh, Ahhhhhh.
What a relief.
What a release!
Ah … Ahhh … Ahhhhhh.
Mingle mind with space,