This is a quiet experience similar to that of a natural
style meditation. You won’t need any special skills to enjoy this because
you will be experiencing something that has always been with you, which is
the natural flow of the mind. You have always had thoughts, and you
have always had feelings, and in this experience, you will ride with that
flow of the mind. Very graceful and accepting. If you have a friend with
you, one of you can read this aloud to the other, and if you are alone,
try reading it aloud to yourself in a soft voice or in a silent
word-by-word manner. Read and feel it like a poem…
[Read or Listen]
Sit comfortably and put both feet on the floor. You can lightly cross your legs at the ankles.
You’ll be taking a quiet, solitary meditative ride. You
can think of this as being something like getting into a familiar canoe
and going down the lake for a while on a summer evening. The water is
calm, there’s a gentle breeze at your back, and a gentle current, a gentle
flow, helping you go where you want to go. You’ll be riding along on that
flow, gently assisting with the paddle.
Now, that’s just an image. And you can let that image
fall away or stay with you.
The flow of the lake is a metaphor for the flow of the
mind.
The flow is the thoughts you are having…
The flow is the background sounds you hear…
The flow is the feelings that gently circulate through
the body…
All this is the lake. And it flows.
When you hear a sound or have a thought, you’re feeling
your flowing mind. And it is helping. It’s carrying you in the
right direction.
In a moment, close your eyes and sit for a few minutes.
Maybe five minutes. Don’t try to time it. Just let your thoughts and
feelings flow as they will.
Close your eyes and enjoy a few quiet minutes.
[quiet time]
-From "Open House" in A Course in Meditation, by Theodore
Phelps © 2007
