“Meditative presence – The fullness of our whole being combined with a sense of inner spaciousness and freedom”
Dear Integral Meditators,
Next week is the start of the Autumn meditation series Meditating with the power of intention – An eleven module course. One of the foundational intentions that we will be working with is the intention to awaken. This weeks article looks at what we are awakening to in meditation, whether we are a beginner or more advanced!
In the spirit of freedom & fullness,
Toby
Sky & sun, freedom & fullness
Meditative presence might be thought of as having two basic qualities; freedom and fullness. There are many levels or ‘octaves’ of this experience, ranging from the foundational experience of the beginner, to the deep awakening of more experienced practitioners. The nice thing about relating to meditative presence in this way is that we can experience it on the level that we are at, and grow it as the days, months and years go by. This month I have experienced a tangible deepening of my own experience of this. I have been practising for thirty years, I don’t expect it to be the last time, it’s a process that really has no edges to it!
So, what do we mean freedom and fullness? In a previous article I described meditative presence as being:
Full, not empty – When we sit in awareness of the present moment, we start to feel a sense of fullness in that moment. We can then turn up to life with this feeling of fullness, which helps counterbalance the feeling of emptiness that many people feel when they think about themselves and their life.
Empty, not full – Sitting with awareness in the present moment enables us to empty of all the complex thinking and inner noise that our mind is overburdened or overfilled with. We access a sense of ‘empty’ pleasurable inner spaciousness.
Meditation enables us to connect to the fullness of our own presence, and the sense of completeness or wholeness that that gives us. It also enables us to empty our mind of busy thoughts, also and empty our body of excessive tension, giving rise to a sense of inner spaciousness and freedom. In meditative presence there is a chance to step into a deep sense of inner fullness and freedom, starting to relate to ourselves as being fundamentally, in essence that way; full, whole, free, liberated. Starting to relate to ourselves in this way as we go about daily life, we may also start noticing changes in our behaviour and how we experience things. We feel less oppressed and trapped, and more creative, spontaneous, and playful.
The sky of freedom, the fullness of the sun
One image that can be useful and powerful to meditate on is your inner fullness being like the sun, and your freedom being like the sky. If when in meditation you imagine the fullness of your being as like a beautiful sun within your heart-space, surrounded by a clear, open sky, which is the natural freedom of your awareness. As you breathe in, feel your energy gathering into the fullness of the sun at your heart, feel the natural wholeness & completeness of it. As you breathe out, let go of tension in your body and thoughts in your mind, relaxing into the sky-like freedom of your own awareness.
If you work with this image, you may find that it helps you connect more profoundly and quickly to your natural state of freedom and fullness. If after a while you feel you have a real sense of the actual state of freedom and fullness, then you can drop the sun and sky image and simply rest in the experience of your natural freedom and fullness. If you find yourself loosing that sense, then you can return to the image as a way of re-connecting.
Another way of doing this is by positioning yourself in front of a window, or sitting outside or walking where you have clear sight of the actual sun and sky. You can use mindful awareness of the actual sun and sky as a way of connecting to freedom and fullness. As always, these things need to be done to be understood fully. Simply reading it on a page won’t reveal it’s potential!
Related article: Mindfulness – Liberation through pre-psychology
Article & content © Toby Ouvry 2024, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com