Class One: Breath Watch

Discussion

Meditation is all about taking charge of your own mind's attention, and shifting that power of attention in particular directions that wake up deeper qualities of consciousness and connectedness.

The psychological reality for all of us is that our experience of life actually happens only right here, right now in the present moment. Life doesn't unfold in our memories of the past, nor in our imaginations of a possible future.

• If we want to be fully alive we need to hold our focus of attention primarily here in the eternal present moment - and this is what meditation does.

The Nose Knows

With this in mind, why do all meditation traditions begin with the breath watch, rather than focusing on some other present-moment happening?

The ancient yogic masters discovered through direct inner observation what perceptual scientists have documented in experiments - that breath awareness is the most primal experience - if we stop breathing for just a few minutes, we die. Furthermore, our breathing as felt in the nose happens a very short distance from our brains - where we 'live' most of the time in our thoughts, worries, imaginations, memories etc.

• Shifting from thinking in the head, to experiencing the air flowing in and out of your nose, just happens to be physically the shortest shift of attention you can make, in order to pop into the present moment.

Try this again for yourself - experience is primary in this learning process: as you read these words, expand your awareness to also include the sensations being stimulated in your nose, as the air flows in, and then flows out...

Expanding Your Bubble

Every time you shift your attention from thoughts toward the physical sensation of the air flowing in and out of your nose, you experience the core reality of consciousness expansion.

You live in a bubble of awareness, right? Sometimes that bubble collapses almost entirely when you become unaware of your own body and present-moment experience, and get lost in thoughts. Sometimes that bubble expands so that you're aware of more, and more, and more ...

What we're exploring here is your natural abiity to expand your awareness bubble, quickly, and in directions that are highly rewarding. Each step of the Seven Masters meditation expands your awareness another notch - seven expansions!

The First Expansion

When you're lost in thought you're 'not here' at all, are you? Does the past or the future or abstract thought exist anywhere outside your own mind?

Each moment, you're either running on automatic mental pilot, which means all too often lost in thoughts about the past or the future, or you're choosing to expand your attention to include what's happening in the present moment.

To see this primary attention choice, and to begin acting on it to your advantage, is one of the most revolutionary acts you can make - it's the leap into spiritual consciousness and connnectedness!

Again, let's make that first expansion ... effortlessly expand your awareness bubble so that you're aware of the ongoing sensations generated by the flow of air into your lungs, and then out from your lungs.

You Choose

All through this course I'm going to be talking to you about the fact that you are continually choosing the quality of consciousness you live in. I can give you the most effective mental tools for shifting into higher states of mind - but you must choose to use the tools!

• The primary choice you are always making is to be aware of the air flowing in and out of your nose, or not to be aware of the air flowing in and out of your nose.

Right now, are you aware of your breathing experience?

Do't be hard on yourself if at first you continually lose your awareness of your breath experience. This is the universal predicament - our thoughts pull us away from the present moment, and as soon as we shift into past or future fixations, of course we lose the present moment experience of our breathing.

Is Thinking Bad?

Right at this point, I need to say clearly that thinking in and of itself is neither good nor bad - it's a magnificent tool that human beings can use to analyze and plan and reflect and manipulate and imagine and so forth. I love to think!

The problem is that this very new cognitive function of the brain has virtually taken over. Especially when it comes to worrying about the future or making plans, we get constantly consumed by thought, and don't spend enough time experiencing in the present moment.

• What we seek in meditation is a happy balance between thinking and experiencing. We seek the conscious freedom to choose when to be lost in thought, and when to shift into present moment awareness and participation in life.

A New Way Of Thinking

My understanding of meditation is that we first quiet the thinking mind (through focusing on present-moment experience) and then, in the midst of this inner quiet, very often a new quality of thought comes to us .

• Meditation directly encourages the intuitive function of the mind where in the middle of inner peace and quiet, we suddenly have a flash of insight, or hear our inner voice speaking to us, or think a thought that is inspired.

My personal intent in life is to nurture a quiet mind, and all the time, to be open to this deeper flow of intuitive thought. I am writing these words right now, from this deeper place - and I encourage you to also explore your true potential, through this meditation process.

Who Is Watching?

Even in this first class, let me bring your attention to one of the deepest dimensions of meditation. When I suggest that you watch your breathing, this implies that there is 'a watcher' within you, a source of attention.

• Breath watch takes you so deeply, partly because you immediately become aware not only of what you are watching, but of 'the watcher' as well.

Right now you're reading these words, and processing their meaning, and also hopefully watching your breathing - and at the same time, if you expand your awareness bubble, you'll begin to experience who it is that is really watching all this...

There - that's what meditation is all about. Be aware of the outside world, and at the same time, be aware of your inner world.

• And from this moment on, take Uncle John's challenge - whatever else you are doing, stay aware also of the air flowing in and out of your nose. And also be aware of who is doing the watching ...

Power Of Audio

Reading about all of this can take you a certain distance. However, you'll find that as you finish with the written portion of this class and move on to the audio experience, you move into a new dimension of the method.

It's very hard to read about an inner process (reading is a very mental linear function of the thinking mind) and at the same time, explore an inner experience. This is why I have spent so much time over the years, developing different systems for delivering experiential audio programs for you to listen to.

• With audio guidance, you can close your eyes, relax your thinking mind, and fully surrender to the experience you're exploring.

So be sure to listen to the 10-minute audio dimension of this class a number of times. Every time you listen to the audio meditation, you'll have a new experience, and go deeper.

Learning By Heart

Although you will find that you can listen to and benefit from the audio programs on this site virtually for the rest of your life (it's always new) my intent is to help you learn the process by heart, so that you can move through it without any audio guidance at all.

So please do take time to memorize the core focus phrases that drive this entire meditation engine. Make them your own - and take them everywhere you go!

• Meanwhile ... the air flowing in ... the air flowing out ... and you experiencing the air flowing in ... and the air flowing out ...