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How do you feel about your mind? How do you relate to it? Are you aware of the power embedded in the mind?
One of my favourite meditation practices is to ask ‘what do I need to know in this moment’ and open my Instinctive Meditation book Radiance Sutras* randomly, trusting my body wisdom to help.
Recently, when I was feeling very unsettled, I opened the book Radiance Sutras and discovered sutra¹ 81. Each sutra has a keyword with a meditation technique. The keyword for this sutra is manas – meaning mind. The meditation practice felt rather simple – let your attention rest on each word of the definition of manas, for one breath. I was skeptical but I tried it – and the experience was mind blowing! I started to feel the body, tears started to flow, I started to feel pulsation of the life force in my body. I started to feel better. It felt as if I was home.
I know that I will not remember all the meanings of the word manas. I learnt Sanskrit at school in India. It helps me remember the sanskrit words easily. So I have started to meditate with the word manas. It is not necessary to meditate with a sanskrit word. You can choose a word in your own language. One of the teachings from Instinctive Meditation I love is that any word can be a mantra. I can simply say it out aloud once, then whisper it with the next breath and then be with the word in silence for the next breath.
I cannot help wondering if this simple meditation may help with the mental/emotional health issues that so many of us are struggling with at this time. What if the healing is possible and simpler than we can imagine!
Meditating with manas is helping me make friends with the mind. It feels like I have found a treasure. All that I have been longing for is in the word manas. I had heard from my meditation teacher Dr. Lorin Roche that we don’t need to control the mind. It seems as if I am beginning to understand what he means. Today I feel that by making friends with the mind, giving it attention, acknowledging the power embedded in the mind I am more likely to receive what I need to not just survive but thrive in the world.
I love questions. So I am playing with the question – If I can cherish the mind/manas, what would it feel like? I trust that my continued meditation practice will help hone this ability to befriend the mind.
I am a certified Instinctive Meditation teacher. You can contact me for a guided meditation session. I offer meditation sessions, both in-person or online.
*Radiance Sutras is Dr. Lorin Roche’s meditative and poetic interpretation of the teachings from the ancient sanskrit text Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.
¹ A sutra is an invitation, a doorway to enter and be at home in yourself and in the universe. The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra offers 112 sutras.
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