20 Minute Guided Meditation "The Mountain" with Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD

Transcript

with this meditation if it is possible for you sitting on the floor on a firm cushion that raises the buttocks off the floor and allows the knees to be in contact with the floor itself slightly below the hips so that the bottom half of your body makes a stable base out of which the upper half Rises with a straight back but not stiff the head held erect on the neck and shoulders allowing the shoulders to be fully relaxed you might try lifting them up towards the ears and just letting them drop and placing your hands either on the knees or together in a comfortable way in your lap and of course it's fine to use a chair if sitting on the floor is a strain and when you feel comfortable with it allowing your eyes to close gently as you bring your attention to the flow of your breathing feeling each INB breath and each out breath just observing your breathing without trying to change it or regulate it in any way allowing the body to be still and sitting with a sense of dignity a sense of resolve a sense of being complet compl whole in this very moment with your posture reflecting this sense of wholeness for and as you sit here picturing in your mind's eye as best you can the most beautiful mountain that you know or have seen or can imagine just holding the image and the feeling of this mountain in your mind's eye letting it gradually come into greater Focus observing its overall shape its lofty Peak high in the sky the large base rooted in the rock of the Earth's crust its steep or gently sloping sides noticing how massive it is how solid how unmoving how beautiful both from afar and up close perhaps your Mountain has snow at the top and trees on the lower slopes perhaps it has one prominent Peak perhaps a series of Peaks or a high Plateau whatever its shape or appearance just sitting and breathing with the image of this mountain observing it noting its qualities and when you feel ready to seeing if you can bring the mountain into your own body so that your body sitting here and the mountain in your mind's eye become one so that as you sit here you share in the massiveness and the Stillness and the Majesty of the mountain you become the mountain rooted in the sitting posture your head becomes the lofty Peak supported by the rest of the body and affording a panoramic Vista your shoulders and arms the sides of the mountain your buttocks and legs the solid base rooted to your cushion or to your chair experiencing in your body a sense of uplift from deep within your pelvis and spine with each breath as you continue sitting becoming a little more a breathing Mountain unwavering in your Stillness completely what you are Beyond words and thought a centered rooted unmoving presence now as you sit here becoming aware of the fact that as the sun travels across the sky the light and shadows and colors are changing virtually Moment by moment in the mountains Granite Stillness night follows day and day follows night the canopy of stars the moon then the sun through it all the mountain just sits experiencing change in each moment constantly changing yet always just being itself it remains still as the seasons flow into one another and as the weather changes Moment by moment and day by day calmness abiding all change in summer there's no snow on the mountain except perhaps for the very Peaks or in Crags shielded from direct sunlight in the fall the mountain May wear a coat of brilliant fire colors in Winter a blanket of snow and ice in any season it may find itself at times enshrouded in clouds or fog or pelted by freezing rain people may come to see the mountain and comment on how beautiful it is or how it's not a good day to see the mountain that it's too cloudy or rainy or foggy or dark none of this matters to the mountain which remains at all times its essential self clouds may come and clouds may go tourists may like it or not the mountains magnificence and Beauty are not changed one bit by whether people see it or not or by the weather seen or unseen in sun or clouds broiling or frigid day or night it just sits being itself at times visited by violent storms buffeted by snow and rain and Winds of Unthinkable magnitude through it all the mountain sits spring comes the birds sing in the trees once again leaves return flowers bloom in the High Meadows and on the slopes streams overflow with the Waters of melting snow through it all the mountain continues to sit unmoved by the weather by what happens on the surface by the world of appearances and in the same way as we sit in meditation we can learn to experience the mountain we can embody the same wavering Stillness and rootedness in the face of everything that changes in our own lives over seconds over hours over years in our lives and in our meditation practice we experience constantly the changing nature of mind and body and of the outer world we have our own periods of light and darkness our moments of color and our moments of drabness certainly we experience storms of varying intensity in violence in the outer world and in our own minds and bodies buffeted by high winds by cold and rain we endure periods of darkness and pain as well as the moments of joy and uplift even our appearance changes constantly experiencing a weather of its own by becoming the mountain in our meditation practice we can link up with its strength and stability and adopt them for our own we can use its energies to support our energy to encounter each moment moment with mindfulness and equinity and Clarity it may help us to see that our thoughts and feelings our preoccupations our emotional storms and crises even the things that happen to us are very much like the weather on the mountain we tend to take it all personally but its strongest characteristic is IM impersonal the weather of our own lives is not to be ignored or denied it is to be encountered honored felt known for what it is and held in awareness and in holding it in this way we come to know a deeper silence and Stillness and wisdom mountains have this to teach us and much more if we can come to listen so if you find you resonate in some way with the strength and stability of the mountain in your sitting it may be helpful to use it from time to time in your meditation practice to remind you of what it means to sit mindfully with resolve and wakefulness in true Stillness and so in the time that remains continuing to sustain the mountain meditation on your own in silence moment by moment until you hear the sound of the Bells for for d for St you for for for get for for for