Effortless Meditation Step by Step

8/8/2019 Effortless Meditation Step by Step

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Kaushik Chokshi

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Effortless Meditation
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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Its all about being present. Be present, come out of the world of thinking, fear

and sadness, and find truth. Releasing can help us through the process.

Welcome!

You can navigate using the Contents at the bottom, available

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This ebook should print fine in color, grayscale, or

black&white.

Please visit www.beyond-karma.com for free articles and

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Kaushik Chokshi

Peace
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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Heres the short version: Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes,you will get swept away in thoughts. When you realize this, gently bring your

attention back to awareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come and to go.Thats all.

True meditation is not a practice. It is beingjust being. It is being without the movement of becoming. It isAwareness.

Just stop and look, just be, without the effort of thinking and without the effort of becomingthis is true meditation. It

doesnt happen when we sit and meditate. It is a natural and easy state of being.

True meditation is natural being. The power is in its simplicity. We are so habituated to doing something, becoming

something, lurching for the next moment, that in the beginning Truemeditation may take time to settle, just like a shaken-up

mixture of sand and water settles.

We use attention in one of two ways. We either shine it directly on objects in consciousness, or, we shine it through the

mind, where the shine is filtered , interpreted, labeled, divided reconstructed, and delayed. In Awareness Now, we shine

attention directly on objects.

Our attention is usually fixed in objects in consciousness. It is fixed in thought and thought-stories, the voice in the head,

emotions, desires, fear, conditioning, perceptions, memories, imagination, past, future, grasping, and becoming. We are in

Effortless Meditation when attention is not fixed. Attention is just on Awareness, when we just are. Then the objects in

awareness are left to their natural rise and fall. There is no effort to manipulate, start or stop these objects inAwareness.There is no grasping, no becoming. There is utter acceptanceno movement to be different or better, no movement to have

this or that, no leaning towards the next moment, and no running away from the Now.

It is just natural, effortless awareness; the kind ofawareness that a cat has watching a mouse hole. There is curiosity, but

not an interfering sort of curiosity.

Effortless meditation is what we are when we give up all practices and rest in choiceless, unbiddenAwareness. It has no

method. It is not about going anywhere, doing something for a while, or sitting in special postures with special goals. It is just

the awaring presence. It happens right here, right now. There is no effort. In fact, anything you do will get you out of the

natural state. If you expect a shift or some sort of meditative experience, it will take you out of effortlessmeditation.

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4/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

The mind is empty only when thought is not. Thoughtcannot come to an end savethrough passive watchfulness of every thought. In thisawarenessthere is no watcherand no censor; without the censor, there is only experiencing. In experiencing thereis neither the experiencer nor the experienced. The experienced is the thought, which

gives birth to the thinker. Only when the mind is experiencing is there stillness, thesilence which is not made up, put together; and only in that tranquility can the realcome into being. Reality is not of time and is not measurable. -J. Krishnamurti

Thoughts come. Thoughts go. There is no judgment of positive or negative. Is-ness.

Heres the short version on how to meditate: Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, you will get swept

away in thoughts. When you realize this, gently bring your attention back toawareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come

and to go. When you are comfortable with this, you will find in stillness, there is still a lurching, a constant becoming,

shoulding. Let go of the subtle sense of lurching out of the Now. Then, look at who is meditating.
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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Meditation is your true nature now. You call it meditation, because there are otherthoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled; you remain alone, i.e.,

in the state of meditation free from thoughts; and that is your real nature whichyou are now attempting to gain by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away

of other thoughts is now called meditation. When the practice becomes firm, the realnature shows itself as the true meditation.-Ramana Mahrishi

The practice of meditation can be important because it has physiological benefits and it can lead to true, effortless

meditation.

The practice of meditation starts firmly in the dualistic monkey-mind.

You will find that some of these sit-down meditation techniques can take some practice and persistence to develop.

Sitting down is suggested because you are at rest but you will not fall asleep as you might when youre prone. Sitting in

your favorite chair is fine. If you want to sit on the floor, thats fine too, just keep your pelvis higher than your knees,and this

will keep your back straight.

Progressively increase your sitting time. Start with five minutes.

Feel free to experiment. Play around a little. The goal is to develop concentration and then to allow attention to float. This

will lead to True Meditation. Different personalities resonate with different techniques; there is not set prescription.

Read the book entirely before you start practicing.

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beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Learn the release techniques first.

Before we start the week by week practice, we will learn to recognize some of the obstacles that will come up.

Recognition ofobstacles is usually all thats needed to dispel them. Then , we will learn a few release meditation techniques.

This will ease your transition from the world of fear and sadness into the world of openness. Inevitably, in this transition,

emotional turmoil comes up. Release, Release Meditation, and Metta meditation are effective salves for this, and in their own

right, very effective meditation techniques.


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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a universityprofessor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitors cup full, and then kept on pouring.The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is

overfull. No more will go in!""Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations.How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

Clinging to concepts is the biggest obstacle to awakening. Without this obstacle, we awaken instantly when we have the

insight that we are not mind.

It can be very subtle obstacle. It shows up in many ways:

Resistance to starting: I will become emotion-less, I need to understand fully. The resistance can show up as

frustration, anger and irritation.

I will start tomorrow. Awakening is Now or never.

Attachment to awakening: We form all sorts of concepts about what awakening is and how we will get there.

Attachment to gurus: devotion is not awakening.

Attachment to practices: The phantom in us looks immediately for answers in external authorities. We chase the

answers, typically through religion, philosophy, spirituality, meditation, traditions, self-improvement, books, and

we adapt others ideas and beliefs, and revelations. We are convinced that this story will f inally end all the other

stories, at some future date. In our minds we form ideas. Your idea may be enlightenment or awakening or the

purpose of life or natural being or flow or God or reincarnation or some sort of new-age thing. We enshrine the

simplicity of the unknown and call it enlightenment. Remember, practicing is not living.

Attachment to effort: do you listen to or read Eckhart Tolle or Adyashanti or some other favorite guru over and

over and over again?

Spiritualized Ego: Do you believe yourself to be on a mission to awakena sensitive, mature, spiritual , noble

mission that is better than the pedestrian desires that the people who are chasing money and happiness?

Examine this fiction.

Can it be seen that these are just thoughts? Can it be seen that the ideas are not the same as being? Can it be seen that

there never can be a satisfying end to all the mental stories? Thought-stories are not looking for an end, they are constantly

looking for continuation. The mind has a strong tendency to believe and categorize, codify, organize into hierarchies, cling toideas of priests, lineages, traditions, right and wrong, higher and lower and so on. Beliefs-all beliefsare a heavy obstacle to

direct experience of Truth. This formation of ideas and beliefs leads to a frustrating, futile chase.


8/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

8

Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Ramana Mahirishi put it succinctly:You impose limits to your true nature ofinfinite being, then, you get displeased to be only a limited creature, then you

begin spiritual practices to transcend these non-existing limits. But if your

practice itself implies the existence of these limits, how could they allow youtranscend them?

This can be a difficult intention because the mind will fight it. It may feel little uncomfortable to rely only direct

experience, because what do we really know from direct experience? If you go into it, there isnt much we can be sure of. I

exist, there is Awareness, and all experience is in the Now. Thats about it.

In a poem Seng-tsan writes: Do not seek the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.

Get comfortable with the emptiness of no beliefs, no ideas, no concepts, no knowing, no desires, no anticipation, nosystem, and no future. Nisgardatta said, "When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you want nothing, seek

nothing, expect nothing, then the Supreme State will come to you uninvited and unexpected."

Cease to cherish opinion.


9/29

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Thinkingness

Thoughts are just thoughts. They are the minds propaganda. They are compelling but the compulsion eases with

meditation and noticing. Thoughts are passing clouds in the vast sky. Notice, and they diminish.

Noticing is the barest of attention. Dont go beyond that. Intellectually questioning thoughts is just thought questioning

thought. It is more thought.

Thinking is of course is not bad. It is just dispensable and unnecessary. It clouds up the joy of being.

If you are able to give up beliefs and opinions, do. Do not seek Truth; only cease to cherish opinion.

You may be tempted to snatch at the gaps between thoughts. Dont. Allow them to expand on their own.

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10/29

KaushikChokshi

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

If you could get ridOf yourself just once,The secret of secretsWould open to you.

The face of the unknown,Hidden beyond the universe

Would appear on theMirror of your perception.- Rumi

It is the ego which decides to become awakened. There isnt one ego; there are bunch of ego rolesall stories, and the

story of awakening is particularly compelling. The ego can never awaken, for it is a phantom, and it is not in the egos interest

to allow Awakening, and yet the ego loves the doing of awakening. This is why spirituality is so popular.

Techniques that are easier work better than ones that require effort or discipline. Keeping clear of the clinging to dogma

or tradition can help. We just have to be wide open. The ego is tricky. The ego may create a space in the mind and call it

presence or flow or awakening. The ego may say, okay it looks like were determined to be aware, so here is thepresent, but it continues to look at the present through the veil of the past, and desires and fears and thoughts. Being present

is a powerful technique. But the ego can subvert that by looking at the present through the same old mental patterns.

Being truly present means relinquishing the clinging to the thought-story we call the ego.


11/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

EmotionsWe are afraid of some emotions, because in the grip of the emotion, we feel it

will persist forever. In hopelessness, clinging desire, or depression, we feel this is

the way it will always be. Fully accept the emotion, welcome it, make space forit, observe it, and release it.

Fear

Fear grips us by telling us it is bottomless and endless. We know it isnt. Use the Release technique.

Anger

Anger is when we dont get what we want. For us to be angry, we have to be deluded into seeing others as solid, separateselves. Know that everyone , including you, is doing the best that they can, given their conditioning. Recognize, accept, allow,

welcome, make space for anger, and release it.

Depression

Depression is rage turned inward. When we suppress negative emotions, we cant help but suppress the joy of being with

it. This leads to depression. As we spiral into depression, we try to think our way out of it or make sense of it and this just

keeps us trapped. We even learn to take a peculiar pleasure from depression. Releasing works very well for depression.

Releasing rejuvenates our ability to feel.

Sadness

Sadness may be grief. It may also be the egos appeal to world, to friends and family, to God, to consciousness. The ego is

saying I am not getting what I want and I will express that as sadness. Accept, observe, welcome, and release.

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12/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Other Obstacles

Giving up

Some people find the practice of meditation very difficult. Meditation can be helpful in awakening, but it is not

necessary. I dont want you to get discouraged. If you find meditation very difficult, you can still awaken with other

techniques. See the ebook Awakening - Twenty Awareness and Release Techniques on www.beyond-karma.com.

Agitation

Meditation brings up insights. You are observing thought. It is not conceptual analysis, but something deeper, something

you cant quite explain. You are beginning to see your relationship with thought. You are breaking the addiction to thought.

And like breaking any other addiction, it will bring up some withdrawal symptoms. You may feel some agitation. You may feel

agitation even when you are not meditating.

Use the Release technique. Use Releasing Meditation. Use Metta Meditation.

Boredom

Know that boredom is the mind fighting the present moment. If meditation seems like a chore, just acknowledge that,

dont pretend otherwise. Mediation is a temporary road. It will pass.

Strong Motivation

How can strong motivation be a problem? For some people, meditation becomes an identity, and achievement, and a

discipline. There is nothing accomplished about meditation, because it is only a temporary road.

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13/29

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13

Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

More

Doubt

If you are concerned about lack of progress, either persist or put it aside for a while. Or fall back to an easier technique.

Becoming, Shoulding, Lurching

When you are still in meditation , notice that there is still a subtle sense of the mind lurching towards something, possiblythe next moment. Noticing will release it.

Time

Early morning is probably best. You can fall into awareness right after you wake up. You can fall into awareness as soon as

you go to bed. You can fall into awareness while driving; turn off the radio and simply be attentive to driving. When thoughts

come, shift attention to driving.

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14/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

14

Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Releasing will help and ease your meditation practice. You can do this duringmeditation, or at anytime. It takes about ten seconds.

This is a beautiful technique thats as effective as it is simple. Thats because its very natural. We knew it as children but

have forgotten how to use it.

It works right away with emotions, but once you have some practice with it, you can use it just as well for thoughts and

beliefs, and for releasing emotional baggage around desires.

It helps to understand the structure of emotions. If we were fully functioning organisms, a feeling would simply be atransient message about something going on right now, and we would feel it as a quick ripple. Thats a feeling. An emotion,

however, is a pattern, and it is remembered and it accumulates energy, leaving a deeper groove each time it is experienced,

and it may or may not be about something happening right now. Emotions can come up as a response to circumstances, but

more often, they come up as a response to thoughts. An emotion is an energized thought, and it always starts as sensations in

the body. This is obvious with strong emotions like anger or anxiety. Anger starts off with muscular contraction, an increase in

adrenaline, temperature, heartbeat and blood pressure, and a hotness in the face. Anxiety may start as sensations in the belly.

Even the smallest of emotions starts as a sensation, though we may not be sensitive to the sensations. The sensations start

up, and they trigger an associated thought-story. With negative emotions, the associated thought-story is usually in voice of

the inner critic. The thoughts and sensations then get into a feedback loop, energizing each other, and the emotion gathers up

a storm.

You will notice that with negative emotions, the first thing we do is contract. We mentally resist and physically contract

our bodies, in anticipation how bad its going to feel.

You may also notice the paradox of negative emotions. Emotions promise to hold off the very thing they give us. Fear says

I am trying to keep you safe. Anxiety says I am trying to give you the security you need. Anger says you are not liking what is

happening. Hurt says you will feel bad if you dont pay attention to me.

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15/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Can I make a lot of space for this emotion?

Am I able to let it go?

Let it go

In Asia, they use this clever trick to catch monkeys. There is a circular shackle or a hole through which the monkey puts

her hand to grab a banana on the other side. The hole is just big enough to let in an open hand, but not big enough to let ou t a

fisted hand. The monkey cannot get her hand out if she holds on to the banana. This is exactly what we do with emotions. We

grasp them. All we have to do is open our hands to release.

Heres a quick experiment to show how this technique works. Make a fist and squeeze it hard as if youre holding on to

something, and keep squeezing. What does that feel likea little uncomfortable? Perhaps it feels a little strange, but if youkeep squeezing the strangeness goes away. It s still uncomfortable but secure and automatic. Emotions in the same way are

uncomfortable and automatic. And releasing emotions is as easy as opening your hand.

The technique is a series of questions, which we answer very quickly. The questions in themselves are not important nor

are the answers. The questions help us stop, look, and be aware of whats going on, and they help us re-learn what we have

always known: that it is easy and instant to release any emotion. Ask and answer these questions quickly. No matter what the

answer is, move on to the next question. Soon they will become non-verbal. With practice the questions disappear and

releasing becomes automatic.

When you experience an emotion, big or small:

Can I make a lot of space for this emotion?

Am I able to let it go?

Let it go

What are you feeling right now? You dont have to label it, and it doesnt have to be a big emotion.

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16/29

KaushikChokshi

beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

I am making space for this emotion.I can let this emotion go.

I am letting it go Now.

Can you allow the emotion? See if you can allow the emotion without resistance. Make a lot of space for the emotion in the body. Dont contract.

Dont resist. Welcome the emotion, allow it, and love it. Then, make even more space for it. Allow it to expand right out ofyour body. If you dont think

you can welcome the emotion, its perfectly fine. Move on quickly no matter what happens.

Are you able to let the emotion go? You dont have to let it go, the question is: are you able to? Its okay if the answer is no. Just continue.

Let it go now. It helps to sigh, or exhale long and easy while letting go. Its perfectly okay if you dont think youre actu ally letting go or you dont

understand what it means to let go. It works anyway.

Instead of questions, you can make them into statements, something similar to:

I am making space for this emotion.

I can let this emotion go.

I am letting it go Now.

With practice the technique becomes non-verbal and natural and technique-less. You will notice a sensation in the body, make space for it by not

contracting, and release it.

The mind will immediately question whether this will work. Its too simple. If I knew how to let go of emotions, I would h ave done it already.

How can this work? What is the mechanism? I cant use this until I understand more.

The answer is just to try it a few times.

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17/29

KaushikChokshi

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

When you find a technique difficult or the times when you just cant seem tosettle, fall back to this meditation.

Shut your eyes. Relax. Use any technique to relax, such aspresence or progressive relaxation. Let go of mind-stuff. Let go

of any feeling of having to do something. You are just here and now, with nothing to do and nothing to change. Let go of all

beliefs and desires. Ignore your body. If thoughts arise, let them, watch them come and go. Continue to let go. Surrender

completely. Release everything. Accept. Surrender. See how deep you can go with this. Let go until there is just awareness of

Awareness. Let go even more.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Loving-kindness

End your meditation session with Metta. It will help with agitation and fear.

Send out loving-kindness. Send out compassion. Send out gratitude. Feel compassion and gratitude and loving-kindness

and friendliness. Feel that you are truthful, positive, and compassionate in thought, words, and action. Send out this feeling to

your loved ones, and ones who have wronged you, and ones you have wronged. Send it to anyone.

End you your meditation with this metta meditation.

At any time in the day allow the feeling of mettaof compassion, love, kindness, friendliness, honestyto rise. Allow thefeeling to rise and send it outmentally zap another person with it and see what happens. Zap your waitress, the attendant at

the store, the grocery cashier, loved onesdo it quietly without expectation, and see what happens.

It really works!

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Sitting is suggested because it is restful, but not so restful that you will fall asleep. I am able to lay prone and meditate

without falling asleep, and you may be as well. There isnt any particular position that is better than others. Be comfortable.

Sit in your favorite chair. If you want to sit on the floor, fine. Sit on a pillow so your knees are lower than your pelvis. This will

straighten your back.

Start this week by just sitting quietly for five minutes.

Thats all.

Obstacles

If you havent meditated before, you will find that sitting for five minutes is not easy. Surprising, isnt it? Work throughit.

You can do it.

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beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Silently count each in breath and out breath. Count to 11 and then countbackwards

Silently count each in breath and out breath. Count to 11 and then count backwards.

Increase your sitting time to ten minutes.

Obstacles

Youre probably still struggling with sitting for five minutes or ten minutes. Its okay. Work through it. Use gentleness andhumor.

When you start counting you may notice that you get to 2 or 3 and your attention has wandered off. There is nothing

wrong with you. This is common. With a smile, gently bring your attention back to counting.

When do you meditate? Early morning is best, but anytime is good. You can try this while you are walking or exercising.

Dont do this while youre driving.

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beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Now, just the out-breath

Silently count just the out breath. Count to 11 and then count backwards.

Increase your sitting time to fifteen minutes.

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beyond-karma.com

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Anapana Meditation

Just focus on breathing, without counting.

Focus just on the nostrils. Feel the air moving in and out, and warmth of the air going out, and the relative coolness of the

air coming in.

Obstacles

You will be shocked the compulsiveness of thought. It takes attention away in two seconds. The trick is to be gentle with

yourself. Smile at the monkiness of the mind and bring attention back to breathing. Dont get frustrated.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Meditation is breaking he addiction to thought. And like breaking any otheraddiction, it will bring up some withdrawal symptoms.

In the last few weeks we have been developing concentration. In the next few weeks, we will try various types of

meditation. See what resonates with you.

Increase sitting time to 30 minutes.

Observe thought.

You might want to notice the voice of thought. Thought is in words and has a voice. Isnt it interesting that the voice of

thought is often critical and adversarial? Without judgment, observe thought. Dont participate in the content of thought,

keep attention on thought, not in thought.

As you observe the gaps between thoughts will widen. Youll soon realize that these gapsthis spaceis the constant

background Stillness in which thoughts arise. Thoughts come and go. The Stillness is constant.

As gaps expand, and stillness abides, you will notice that you are present.

Remember to end each session with metta meditation.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

You will find being present is ordinary. Dont expect the extra-ordinary; thatwill take your right out of presence.

The immediacy of life in the present precedes the mind and all concepts.

Its hard for the mind to understand what being present is because the mind is never present. Yet, we do have moments

of presence, when we are awed by beauty or those times when we are in flow.

You will find being present is ordinary. Dont expect the extra-ordinary; that will take your right out of presence.

Try it. It is not an effortful presence. The ego is capable of creating a mental space of presence, and you can tell because

ego-presence feels effortful, artificial and dull. We are already always present, so its little misleading to say be present.

What we mean by that is really to be Awareness, absent of the constant lurch for the next moment, the grasping, or the

becoming.

The body is always present, so we can always bring attention deeply into the body or breath to be present.

Do the following to be present:

Sit down, shut your eyes, and watch your breath. Become aware of breath going in, and going out. Breathe freely, there is

no need to control or change the flow. Become aware of the sensation of air passing through your nose and nostrils. Pay

attention to the lungs filling up and emptying. Pay attention to the belly expanding and relaxing. If attention is distracted by

thought, gently bring it back with a smile.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

If thoughts rise, let them

Expand your attention to the sound of breathing. Dont label or analyze, simply listen to the undulating sound of breath.

Notice that there is no time between perception and hearing. Time only happens when there is thinking about hearing. Hear

without thinking. Is there any effort required to hear? Pay attention to the way the sound is heard. As you notice the sound,

pay attention, just to hear the sound, without decision or interpretation or judgment. Hearing just happens. There is no

thought required. Meet the perception half-way. Is there any time delay between the sound and the hearing? The hearing of

sound is thought-less, time-less. Relax, and be the awareness that hears the sound, without thought.

Expand your attention further to any sound that comes into perception. Dont label or measure or judge. Just pay

attention to the sound. Notice the sounds pop up in Awareness, inside of you. There is no space or time between awaring and

the occurrence of the sound.

If thoughts rise, let them and shift attention back to the sounds.

Now feel your weight. Feel your skin touching your clothes. Feel your skin touching air. Dont label or figure out what it is

touching, just simply feel the perception of touch. Go inside the body to feel it. Put attention inside your hands and soon you

will feel a tingling, an aliveness. Notice there is no time between feeling the sensation and being aware of the sensation. Just

to feel, is there any time required between the sensation and the feeling of it? There is no decision, no effort, no thinking; it

just happens. Time only happens when you interpret the sensation with thought.

Move attention to taste. Do you taste anything? Is there a taste? Dont figure out what it is. Just be aware of it.

Move attention to smell. Is there any smell? Dont label it or figure out what it is, just abide in the perception of it.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Move deeply into the Now.

Open your eyes. Look around the room. Dont label anything. Simply take in the seeing. Take in colors without labeling

them. Take in the background, the ceiling, floor, the walls, the sky, clouds, anything without labeling. Feel the colors rather

than seeing them. Notice there is no t ime delay between seeing and awaring. Perception takes no time. It is right here, right

now. Dont label anything, see it for the first time. Trace the contours and edges very slowly with your eyes. This is just

Awareness. Everything you see is Awareness seeing in Awareness. The entire visual field and beyond is in Awareness. All these

objects are simply perception in Awareness.

Move deeply into the Now.

When you are deeply in the Now, look at the grasping and running-away feeling in the mind, with Awareness.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

There is distance between you and thoughts.

This is it!

I refer to this as Aware of Awareness, Awareness Now, and Effortless meditation. Some call it formless meditation.

Try this:

Just be. Notice. Notice thoughts come and go. Notice perceptions come and go. Notice breath and body sensations comeand go. Notice Awareness. There is no effort, no doing, no lurching. Just be. Notice that everything we know arises in

Awareness. Awareness is the space and silence in which thought and every other object arises. Fall backwards into Awareness.

Release into Awareness. There is no effort to this. Just be. Be patient. Awareness will expand on its own.

Or, try this:

Take some time to relax completely. Use the progressive relaxation technique or just breathe out and relax. Look at

something in the room. Focus on it. Awareness is looking. Become aware of Awareness. Shut your eyes and remain aware of

Awareness. Relax. Let go. Relax and let go even more. Let go as deeply as you can. If thoughts arise be aware of them, letthem come and go. Simply observe, without participating or attaching meaning. There is nothing else to do. Shift attention to

Awareness that is witnessing the thoughts. There is distance between you and thoughts.

Or, try this:

Be utterly present. Be present with the things that are already present. Your body, your breath, the tingling inside your

hands, the sense of sound, the sense of sight when you simply experience and not divide or label, a plant, a flower, the

skythese are utterly present. This is a relaxation into presence, not a trying or a grabbing or a becoming of presence. There is

no difference between what is and what you want it to be. There is no t ime-delay between perceiving and sensing. There is nolurching forward to the next moment. Just Stillness.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, you will get swept awayin thoughts. When you realize this, gently bring your attention back toawareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come and to go. Let go of the

constant becoming and shoulding.

Or, try this:

Sit comfortably. Do nothing. Be aware of thoughts. Yes, you will get swept away in thoughts. When you realize this, gently

bring your attention back to awareness, with a smile. Allow thoughts to come and to go. Let go of the constant becoming

and shoulding.

Awareness does not need the seer or the seen; it is just pure seeing.

This is Awareness watching Awareness.

When you are ready, go to Effortless Meditation.

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Contents


Practice

Obstacles

Release

Release Meditation

Metta Meditation

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Resources

Kaushik ChokshiPeace

http://www.beyond-karma.com

Please visit www.beyond-karma.com for free articles and

more ebooks.

ARO meditation has an excellent, free email course.

Vipassana meditation offers a donations-welcome ten day

silent retreat.
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