A Deep Dive Into Thay's Calm-Ease Meditation

Crossing the Line into BEing | 3 of 6

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Crossing the Line into BEing

Being is as it implies.  It does not mean void of experience or awareness.  Mindfully breathing and listening, is Being.  The Calm-Ease meditation gives plenty of opportunity to wonderfully BE.

Understanding Our Mind

The following excerpts are from Thich Nhat Hanh's book "Understanding our Mind", page 53, 70 and 71. 

The first field of perception is the perception of things-in-themselves, perceiving directly without distortion or delusions.  This is the only one of the three modes of perception that is direct.  pg 53

The mode of perception that leads to the realm of things-in-themselves is direct. A direct perception does not involve thought or imagination; it is not the result of comparison or reasoning.  pg 70

Stored consciousness does not engage in thinking, comparing or imagining.  Its mode of perception is always direct. Therefore, the mode of the five universal mental formations as they function with the store consciousness is also always direct. pg 71

Struggling to Quiet my Mind

We have become so accustomed to the noisy chatter in our minds that we assume not having it is a mind void of thought or experience.  This makes it very difficult to sit and clear our mind.  If the noise is gone, how do I hold my attention on absolutely nothing?  That is extremely difficult and then we miss the peace and happiness of the moment.  

Let's Cross that Line

Let's make it easier and more joyful.  Calm-Ease begins with the in breath and out breath.  The intention is to become fully aware of each.  We are not thinking about it we are listening to each.  It is good to start off thinking 'Innnnn - Ouuuut'; however, you can gently let go of the words and fully listen to the in breath and the out breath.  This is crossing the line into Being.

Everything that is heard or felt in your listening is happening in the moment.  You can hear or feel the air cooling and heating, your body relaxing on the out breath, the tummy extending and contracting, your weight shifting as you breath.  As you sit and experience through listening, you begin to feel more peaceful.  That's listening too.  "Oooo, this is nice."  That is being mindful.  

Noisy Thoughts are Enlightening

The Calm-Ease meditation starts with the breath then moves to the body and mind.  You can listen to the experience of the in breath and your back at the same time.  For your out breath you can listen to the experinece of breathing and your relaxing back AND your smile as you are taking care of yourself.  Now your mind has plenty to focus upon as it is fully engaged in listening and being.  Those noisy thoughts can still be heard but they are so much softer.  Being mindful, you can recognize how soft those thoughts have become.  "Whoa, I hear them but they don't draw me in anymore."  Don't step into those thoughts as that is not being mindful.  You can now BE with those noisy thoughts.  You can listen to your inbreathe and your shoulders rising while also being aware of those noisy thoughts.  At this point, you no longer need to focus away from them, they can just be.  I am sure if you hold all three in your awareness and simply listen to the experience, you will find the beauty in those noisy thoughts.  You can more easily enjoy the no-birth no-death experience.  The noisy thoughts are now here to enlighten us.  : )

Historical and Ultimate Perspective

Keeping our perspective in the Historical is doubly difficult as our suffering waters more seeds.   Suffering happens because the breadth and depth of our vision isn't very far.  It is more narrow and less accurate than the Ultimate perspective.  Our past conclusions and guiding principals are based on the historical which hinder our vision from seeing the hurt as it truly is.  In fact, those conclusions based in the Historical perspective compound the hurt and our suffering.  It gets so painful we want nothing to do with those past moments, so the suffering lingers, waiting on us to bring the needed love for transformation.  Sitting to meditate with our thoughts continues this momentum from the Historical perspective.  However, sitting and listening to our experience moves us away from the Historical and our understanding can now shift towards the Ultimate.

With In - Out, Thay invites us to begin listening.  Our mind starts to quiet.  Then he introduces Calm - Ease and our awareness grows from our breathing and now includes our body.  The listening experience grows and the mind has a more enriched experience to focus upon.  Our thinking becomes more quiet as we transition from the Historical to the Ultimate.  Then Thay moves us deeper in to peace with Smile - Release.  The richness of experience grows and it becomes easier to just enjoy the listening.  Contentment becomes a part of the experience and happiness begins to bloom.  

What Does Active Listening Sound Like

Since our mind has stopping thinking, we can now experience our suffering differently.  It becomes very easy to Look Deeply and Touch the suffering.  This is all done with continuing to simply listen.  Our awareness becomes more centered on the Ultimate where our vision grows in depth and breadth.  We all know the suffering while in the Historical.  Here is experience of the Ultimate grants us:

In - Out.   

In & Listening - Out & Listening 

Whoa, I feel a fear.   (This is being mindful as it's an observation that is happening right now.)

In & Listening - Out & Listening 

Oh, I am afraid and it happened because of these events.  ( Notice there is no thinking here.  The judgement was made.)

In & Listening - Out & Listening 

Ahh, I have suffered long enough.  I am going to breath in the loveliness of my inbreath and with it's Kindness, I am going to Gently share it's peace to sooth that fear.  ...  

In - Out.   

In & Loveliness - Loveliness to Sooth you, Pain.  

You don't have to suffer alone anymore.  You let me know when you are hurting and I'll share our lovely in breath with you.  

In & Loveliness - Loveliness to Sooth you"

Remember, we aren't going anywhere.  We are just letting go..

The more we let go of thinking, the more we can transform the suffering caused from embracing our thinking.  The more we actively listen to our experience in the moment, the more we step over the line. 

Let's Cross the Line and Just Be

12 minute meditation with bells at 2 mins.  Mediation's audio. 

Listening to my In Breath - Out & Enjoy my Breath

Aware of In Breath & its gentleness - Listening to my Body

In Breath & Gentleness  -  Listening to Body

Aware of In Breath & its gentleness - Sharing my breath's gentleness with my Body

In Breath & Gentleness  -  Sharing Gentleness with Body

Gentleness -  Sharing Gentleness with Body

Gentleness - Sharing

As you are listening to the Gentleness and Sharing, let go a little more and let your mind experience more of you.  Then simply enjoy the listening.

Just mindfully breath and enjoy BEing.

Hạnh, N. (2006). Understanding Our Mind (pp. 53, 70-71). Parallax Press.