Lightly edited transcript Filler words and caption errors removed by machine; the meaning is unchanged.
Delson leads a guided meditation that opens with a body scan and loving kindness, extending it outward from the self to the room, the campus and the whole planet. He then asks listeners to imagine lying on a deathbed, offering loving kindness to those present, and to let go of the senses and mind one by one with the reflection "not me, not mine, not myself." The session closes by releasing awareness, objects, intentions and perception.
Key points
- The session begins with a body scan and softening, then builds loving kindness from oneself outward to the people in the room, the campus, the planet, and all beings.
- Delson guides the listener to imagine their own deathbed and to offer loving kindness to the loved ones, students and teachers present, wishing them freedom from grief and peace in the final moments.
- The second half is a guided letting go of the senses in turn: smell, taste, sight, touch and sound, each framed as not me, not mine, not myself.
- Mind, memories, thoughts and any sense of the other world or beings who may be present are treated the same way, as things to release rather than cling to.
- The talk ends by letting go of awareness itself, intentions, objects, choice and perception, with no one left doing the letting go.
Themes
Where this talk sits on the path
This talk belongs to a thread that runs along the whole path. It follows the thread of Guided meditations.
Transcript
Loving kindness and facing death
So, I'd like you all to take your sitting positions. If you want to sit on the cushion, you want to sit in the chair, you'd like to sit in the air and levitate, whatever works for you. Sit in the comfortable position and close your eyes. Notice your breath. You don't need to control it. You don't need to inhale, exhale in a certain way. Just notice the natural process of breathing.
And we're going to do a small scan throughout the body. Just let your attention sweep from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes, to the tips of your fingers. Notice any tension as you sweep your attention through the body. And make a conscious intention to relax. Just soften and relax. Put a small smile on your face.
Smile in your heart. Smile in your eyes. Smile in your eyes. And we're going to start with some loving kindness to ourselves. You can use phrases in your mind. May I be happy. May I see the goodness in myself. May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be filled with loving kindness. Or if you want a wholesome memory to uplift the mind.
You can go into that. And tune into the feeling. The warmth in your heart. May be an image. May be an image. May be an image. May be an image of holding a small baby in your arms. May be an image of holding a small baby in your arms. May be an image of holding a small kitten or puppy in your arms. May be an image of holding a small kitten or puppy in your arms.
Seeing into its eyes and feeling that pleasurable, pleasant feeling of loving kindness in the heart. Maybe it's an image of loving kindness in the heart. Maybe it's an image of loving kindness. And just bask in the heart. And just bask in the feeling. And just bask in the feeling. And just bask in the feeling. And just bask in the feeling. And just bask in the feeling. And just bask in the feeling.
If you find yourself wandering around in your mind, release your attention. Relax. Release your attention. Relax. Re-smile. And come back, and just go to the next one. And just go. And just go. And go. And let it permeate throughout our body. Feel the loving kindness. And let it permeate throughout our body. Feel the loving kindness. And let it permeate throughout our body. Feel the loving kindness. Feel the loving kindness.
Up in the head. All the way down into the toes and beyond. And beyond. Like the glow of a candle flame, it extends outward. It extends outward. It extends outward. The radiance of loving kindness extends beyond our body, enveloping us in a force field of loving kindness. And our attention is with it, in the room. And then you're going to expand. To expand outward, encompassing this entire hall. To expand outward, encompassing this entire hall, all beings in it. And continuing to expand. And continuing to expand without any effort.
Encompassing all beings that are present on this campus. In the center, through the forest. Through the forest, through the entire area. May this loving kindness be felt. And now we just observe how it keeps expanding outward, upward, downward, downward, downward, in all directions. In all directions, and beyond that, through the entire planet. May all beings on this planet. May all beings on this planet be happy. Be free of suffering.
May they experience loving kindness. May they experience loving kindness. May they see and recognize the goodness in their hearts. May they see and recognize the goodness in their hearts. May they see and recognize the goodness in their hearts. And the goodness in each other. And the goodness in each other. God bless. And the goodness in the heart of the heart. God bless you. Don't hold on to the loving kindness. Don't hold on to the loving kindness. Don't do any effort. Just remain basking in the infinitude of this feeling. Don't do any effort. Just remain basking in the infinitude of this feeling.
No borders, no center, no effort. Just radiance. Just radiance. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. The mind. If the mind wanders around, notice it. And relax. Just stay with the feeling. Just stay with the feeling. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't. Now we will turn our attention. Now we will turn our attention to the future.
Where we are all lying on our deathbeds. Maybe it's the hospital. Maybe it's the hospital. Maybe it's at home. And notice who's in the room with us. Our loved ones, our loved ones, our friends, students, students, teachers, whoever's in the room. And offer them loving kindness. And I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. That they're free of any grief. May they find peace. May they find peace in these last moments that they're with us. May they find peace in these last moments that they're with us. May they find peace in these last moments that they're with us.
Letting go of the senses
Now it's time to turn inward. Time to turn our attention to our minds. As we start to let go, we notice our sense of smell starts to dissipate, and we allow that process to go. The nose is not me, not mine, not myself. Odors are not me, not mine, not myself. Nose consciousness is not me, not mine, not myself. But I'm not going to be a little bit. We may start to notice. We may start to notice the tongue going numb. We may start to notice the tongue going numb. Losing sensation in the tongue. Losing sensation in the tongue.
The tongue is not me, not mine, not myself. Flavors are not me, not mine, not myself. Flavors are not me, not mine, not myself. Tongue feeling, tongue contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Tongue feeling, tongue contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Tongue feeling is not me, not mine, not myself. Relax and let go.
Let your awareness depart from the tongue. Let your awareness depart from the tongue. Now you may notice your eyes starting to slip away. Things start to become fuzzy and blurry. So you relax and let go. So you relax and let go. The eyes are not me, not mine, not mine, not myself. Color and form are not me, not mine, not myself. Eye contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Eye contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Just relax, and just relax. Let go. Let go.
Let your awareness depart from the eyes. Let your awareness depart from the eyes. Start to notice now that your awareness of the body is fluctuating. The body starts to feel numb. Your skin starts to feel numb. Your skin starts to feel numb. This body is not me, not mine, not mine, not myself. Tangibles are not me, not mine, not myself.
Body contact. Body contact is not me, not mine, not mine, not myself. Body contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Body contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Body contact is not me, not mine, not myself. Body contact is not me, not mine, not myself. We become disenchanted with the body. We let our awareness depart.
From the body. The sounds. The sounds start to become more fleeting. The sounds start to become more fleeting. Start to dial down. The sounds start to dial down. The sounds start to dial down. The ears are not me, not mine, not mine, not myself. Sounds are not me, not mine, not myself. Your consciousness. Your consciousness is not me, not mine, not mine, not myself.
Letting go of mind and consciousness
We allow our awareness to depart from the nose. Our mind starts to bring up different things, different thoughts. This is what we have to let go of. This is what we have to find disenchantment with. This is what we have to find disenchantment with. This is what we have to find disenchantment with. Relax any mental tension you notice as memories arise, thoughts arise, people arise in the mind. We may notice ourselves floating up above the body. We may notice ourselves floating up above the body.
And with our mental vision, seeing around, seeing our body in the bed, seeing our loved ones and the people around us. But we let go and stay in pure consciousness. Mind is not me. Mind is not myself. Mind is not myself. Mind is not mine. Mind is not mine. Mind is not mine. Thoughts, memories, ideas. This is not me.
Not mine. Not myself. Mind is not myself. As we allow our awareness, as we allow our awareness to depart from the mind. As we allow our awareness to depart from the mind. We may notice other beings. We may notice other beings, maybe relatives long gone. Luminous beings welcoming us, smiling at us. We send them gratitude and loving kindness.
May you be happy. May you be free of suffering. And we thank them and we let them go. We let any awareness depart from them. And we stay in our pure awareness, pure attention. Not me. Not mine. Not myself. We may see the light, glowing, coming closer to us. But we relax. The other world is not me.
Not mine. Not myself. We allow our awareness to depart from this world and the next. Free from any hindrance, any regret, any memories. These are not me, not mine, not myself. Free from any consciousness that might cling to this world or the next or in between, or to any beings accompanying us. These are not me, not mine, not myself.
We let our awareness depart from any attention to this world and the next. To any world in between. To any beings accompanying us. We remain in pure consciousness. Free of any barriers. Free of any concepts. Free of any concepts. And we choose to let go even of this consciousness. Free of any clinging. Free of any craving. Free of any craving. Consciousness is not me.
Not mine. Not myself. This pure awareness. This pure awareness is not me. This pure awareness is not me. Not mine. Not mine. Not myself. Any awareness that lies beyond this is not me. Not mine. Not myself. Any awareness that lies beyond this is not me. Not mine. Not myself. Let go of any landing anywhere. Let go of all objects.
Let go of all objects. Let go of all intentions and intentionality. There is no direction to go in. There is no direction to go in. There is no object to hold on to. There is no experience to identify with. All of these. All these. All these are not me. Not mine. Not mine. Not myself. Whatever may be remaining in my awareness. All this awareness is not me. Not mine. Not mine.
Not myself. That which can be made aware of in this awareness. Let go of all choice. Let go of all perceptions. Let go of all awareness. There is no one to let go of. There is no one letting go. Let go of all sense. Let go of all sense. Let go of all choice. go of all go go go. go. go