Journey into Vastness This week's meditation technique Find the presence of awareness to be without focus.

If you drift from presence of awareness, return without comment or judgment. If mental events manifest remain uninvolved. Let go and let be. This is called 'formless meditation'. t this stage, we no longer focus on breath. This is the techni!ue of no"techni!ue. #ith sufficient e$perience in returning, it becomes possible to return simply by noticing that we are elsewhere. There is no need to apply artificial methods. %aving returned we may, for a time, remain without distraction. #e are aware in awareness itself, without attending to anything in particular. Follow-up &lease try this wee''s techni!ue at least once before reading further. ( ( ( ll the techni!ues we have e$plored so far in this course are variants of the method called shi"n), 'peacefully remaining'. *ounting both in"breaths and out"breaths *ounting out"breaths only Following both in" and out"breaths with attention Following out"breaths only Formless meditation+ remaining present without techni!ue

These vary according to how forcefully the method intrudes on the stream of awareness. *ounting is the most heavy"handed method this wee''s techni!ue is the most subtle.

If you refer to the first email in this course, you will find that you have already engaged in formless meditation. s I mentioned at the time, this is the most difficult form of shi"n). ,evertheless-coming to it with no e$pectations-you may have had glimpses of what is possible. .e"read your meditation noteboo' entries from that time and see how your e$perience has changed. /ou will probably feel encouraged by the progress you have made in the past two months. Formless meditation can be elusive. The instructions amount to no more than 'be here-now'. It may ta'e a few more months before you feel confident in practicing this regularly. Try repeatedly this wee'. If you find yourself completely lost in thought, return to a less subtle techni!ue until your mind steadies. It is worth persevering because formless meditation provides the most complete e$perience of peaceful remaining. #e no longer have the breath as a distraction no longer employ it as a crutch and can no longer use it as entertainment. #e are left with nothing to do and nothing to hold onto. #e choose to let go, and find ourselves in empty space. How much to meditate 0enerally, formless meditation is not practical without regular e$perience of meditation sessions of at least half an hour. It may ta'e as much as an hour of patient shi"n) before wild thoughts settle out and your mind clarifies. I have repeatedly increased the recommended sitting period. /ou may wonder if this will end. %ow much is enough1 That depends on your individual capacity, circumstances, and inspiration. Therefore any recommendations are merely general guidelines. In half an hour your mind can settle in a way that is rarely possible in five minutes. 2!ually, there are insights to be discovered in an hour that are rarely found in thirty minutes 3

periods. In a few wee's I will introduce 'retreats' in which you meditate with others for several hours a day. That facilitates transformations which rarely occur in daily practice. If this seems an unreasonable time commitment consider the time re!uired to learn a musical instrument or become s'illed in a sport. The practice time necessary is !uite comparable. It is possible for almost everyone to find 45"65 minutes a day for meditation if necessary, by decreasing time devoted to activities to which we are less committed. If you are 'too busy to meditate' investigate whether that busyness might be a strategy for avoiding seeing something that might confront you if you stopped doing for a few minutes. .egardless of how long you sit regularly it is useful, occasionally, to meditate for a substantially longer period. /ou may find an hour or two or three on a wee'end. It is difficult to sit more than an hour continuously. If you can dedicate a longer period to meditation, brea' it into sessions of 45"65 minutes sitting meditation separated by rests of 75"78 minutes. 9uring the rests, stretch your legs and engage in !uiet, reflective activity, such as writing in your meditation noteboo' or ta'ing a short wal'.

Posture :neeling is an alternative to sitting that wor's well for some people but not at all for others. To decrease the pressure on your 'nees, you need to raise and support your buttoc's. /ou can place a ;afu between your legs, sandwiched between your legs and buttoc's, or edge"wise. lternatively, you can use a 'sei;a bench'-often available where ;afus are sold, and on the web. These support 'neeling by providing a low seat underneath which your legs can rest freely. 2ither way, padding under your 'nees-a sheeps'in or ;abuton-is also essential.

nother sitting position is one in which you are supported by a gomtag. This position can be comfortable for several hours. <ecause the gomtag supports the bac' and 'nees, the 'nees can be above the hips and you need not raise your pelvis. 0omtags can be purchased on the web. =They may be sold as 'meditation straps'. '/oga straps' are not the same and are unsuitable.> lternatively, you can also sew your own from several layers of strong, thic' fabric. The total length of the strap =before you sew the circle closed> should be twice the distance from the middle of your chest to your outstretched finger tips. The strap should be as wide as your hand is wide =including your thumb>.

Obstacles and antidotes Forgetfulness becomes an increasing danger as the techni!ue becomes more subtle. It can be surprisingly difficult to remember how to meditate. It is easy to omit important aspects@ or, to appro$imate the techni!ue. This results in merely sitting and thin'ing, whilst considering yourself to be meditating. #hen you reali;e you have lost the method simply review the instructions. It is easy to forget that you are meditating. If you meditate regularly, the method becomes automatic but this ris's going through the motions without returning to 'een awareness. void meditating on autopilot. It is easy to forget why you are meditating. If you meditate often, it is easy to allow yourself to be distracted by fantasies on the grounds that 'I meditate plenty@ I want to enjoy this story'. .eview your motivation. Aa'e an agreement with yourself to return to the fantasy after the end of your meditation session. Journey into vastness #hat follows may sound 'spacey' or downright cra;y. It can only be understood once you have had substantial e$perience of the gap between thoughts. If it reads as nonsense now set it 8

aside, and concentrate on the 'nuts and bolts' aspects of meditation. Bften, this material suddenly ma'es sense wee's or months after reading it. Last wee''s practice-on avidity, repulsion, and disregardmay have revealed how many thoughts are about 'me'. t the same time, shi"n) reveals that 'I' am not my thoughts because awareness persists during the gaps between them. #e see that thoughts come from nowhere and return to nothing. It becomes apparent that 'I' am not the origin or master of 'my' thoughts they continue when 'I' refrain from acting to produce them. In fact, there is nothing personal about most thoughts. Though largely about 'me', they could be about any 'me' countless other people have had nearly identical thoughts about themselves in similar situations. #e use thoughts to 'eep a grip on who we are and how we relate to our world. #e want to e$perience ourselves as a solid, enduring, separate, continuous, well"defined 'self'. 'I thin', therefore I am.' #e use thoughts to create strategies for justifying and aggrandi;ing our selves, for armoring our selves against threats and for shutting out anything that is irrelevant to our selves. These are avidity, repulsion, and disregard. They harden our identity, separating our selves from others. In shi"n)-especially formless shi"n)-we get used to being insubstantial, transitory, indistinct, discontinuous, and undefined. #ithout thoughts propping it up the boundary between 'me' and 'everything and everyone else' collapses. This can be disconcerting. #e fear letting go of our separate, well"defined identity-even for a moment-because we imagine our lives would spiral out of control. It might seem that if we let go of our grip on 'who I am', 'I' would fall apart altogether, and we would not be able to function in everyday life. #e pull bac' from the precipice of non"definition toward safe and familiar patterns to avoid disintegration. #hen this space of non"self provo'es apprehensiveness a combination of gentleness and determination are re!uired. =I 6

will say more about wor'ing with fear in meditation in a couple of wee's.> It is helpful to 'now that those who have e$plored non" definition find that there is nothing in it to fear. It does not lead to the inability to function in daily life. Bn the contrary, when we are less driven by thoughts-which are not truly ours in any case-we can act more spontaneously, authentically, and effectively. Life can flow from awareness rather than from fi$ed ideas. #e do not lose our 'selves' we discover that the solid, enduring, separate, continuous, defined self was an illusion all along built of insubstantial thoughts. Letting go of identity and allowing our boundaries to dissolve can be e$hilarating rather than disconcerting. #e reali;e that we have lived our lives in tiny dar' prison cells called 'me' which we built to insulate us from the world. #hen we allow the walls to collapse we step out into the vast, brilliant, open space of .eality, as it is. Preview Formless meditation is the pinnacle of shi"n) but it is not the final destination of meditation. In future wee's we will e$plore other methods. /ou have been meditating long enough now, that you may have started to e$perience strong emotions during meditation. This is a sign of progress but it may not be pleasant. The ne$t section of the course is devoted to methods for wor'ing with such feelings. ecommended resources This wee''s Courney Into Dastness discussion is an introduction to 'emptiness and form'. These are the complimentary !ualities of e$istence that are the heart of the <uddhist world"view. /ou can read more about emptiness and form on our web site.

The ro mentors can provide individuali;ed meditation tutoring. Fupport our charitable wor'-bringing the benefits of meditation to others-by becoming a Friend of ro. Fee our meditation resources page for a range of learning methods.