This practice is easier to do with a mantric thought-that is, a positive thought that you repeat over and over again-than with your random thoughts. We'll use the mantric thought "I am." But feel free to substitute a different short, positive thought, or a mantra with which you are used to working.
Close your eyes, and attend to your breathing, following the flow of the breath for a few minutes to let your mind calm down. Begin to repeat to yourself the phrase "I am." (Resist the urge to add something to "I am," such as your name.) After you have said it to yourself a few times, start to focus on the place in the mind where the word "am" fades away. Notice the tiny pause there, the gap. As the words "I am" arise again, see if you can gently stay attentive to that pause. Begin to feel that the words are arising from and subsiding into that space in the mind. Let your focus be on the space rather than on the content of the words. Your mind may stop there, in which case take rest in the pause for as long as it lasts.
Book Details
Meditation for the Love of It: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience
by Sally Kempton
January 1, 2011 / Paperback / BK01725 / ISBN: 978-1-60407-081-1 / UPC: 600835-172585
US $ 19.95 / Spirituality, Meditation
Also Available: Companion Spoken-Word Audio
Beginning Meditation: Enjoying Your Own Deepest Experience
January 1, 20111 / AW01762D / 2 CDs, 2 hours / 5″ x 5¾" / Spirituality
US $19.95 / ISBN-13: 978-1-60407-097-2 / UPC: 600835-176224
Return to the Patheos Book Club on Meditation For The Love Of It for more resources on the book and author.
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