Guided Meditation -Letting go of the 5 Aggregates with Delson Armstrong at the DO Conf.

So we'll just start up with some loving kindness to ourselves. Bring up the loving kindness, allow that to percolate and just be there in the heart and let that come up. And then we're going to radiate it. So we'll just allow it to expand, send it out in different directions. And for a while after that's done, when the mind is very settled, then I will guide you through the contemplation practice through each of the five aggregates.

So I'll walk you through the form aggregate, and you imagine the form aggregate in terms of your own body as you were when you were an infant. And then when you grew up to become a toddler and then a child, an adolescent, your adult self, so to speak. And then beyond that, as you continue to age and grow, and even beyond that, when your form basically dies, looking at the stages of decay in the body, in the corpse, and letting it go, right? Then I'll take you through feeling.

And then I'll take you through feeling. I'll take you through feeling. I'll take you through feeling. I'll take you through feeling. I'll take you through feeling. I'll take you through feeling. I'll take a little smile on your face. I'll take a little smile on your face. A little smile in your mind and in your eyes and in your eyes and in your heart.

Pay attention to your breath as you inhale and exhale and relax. I'm going to do a little body scan. We're going to do a little body scan. Just pay attention to parts of your body. Just pay attention to parts of your body. Just pay attention to parts of your body. Notice any tension anywhere throughout your body. And just let it go.

Soften it. Relax. Notice any tightness. In the shoulders. In the shoulders. In the shoulders. In the shoulders. In the shoulders. In the back. In the back. And just let it go. Now we're going to bring up the feeling of loving kindness. You can say in your mind, may I be happy. May I be well. May I be well. May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be free of suffering. May I be free of suffering.

And just notice, just imagine a little baby in your arms. Just smiling at you, giggling, laughing. Just looking at you with innocent eyes. Let it go. And feel the warmth. And feel the warmth that comes in your heart. Let the mind just stay there. If you notice any tension, just relax. Let it go. Soften. Feel the warmth. Feel the warmth in your heart.

Throughout your heart. Throughout your heart. Just bask in that. Just bask in that. Just pay attention to that feeling. Just pay attention to that feeling. Just let it go. Let it go. And feel the warmth again. Bring up that feeling. Stay with the feeling. Stay with the feeling. If you find your mind. If you find your mind starting to tighten or push.

Trying too hard. Just relax. Just relax. Let that go. Let that go. Let the mind and heart expand. Come back to the feeling. Come back to the feeling. And just rest in it. Allow it to pervade your heart center. Like a candle flame. Just glowing. If your mind drifts, that's okay. It's fine. It's fine. That's the nature of the mind.

Just recognize that. Let it go. Let it go. Relax. Relax. Come back to your smile. Come back to your smile. Come back to the feeling. Come back to the feeling. Let the feeling. Let the feeling grow. Let the energy pervade your entire heart. Let it glow outward. Throughout your torso. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. If you find yourself drifting.

If you find yourself nodding off, that's okay. That's the truth of the moment. Just recognize that. Let it go. Relax. Let the mind expand. Let the feeling expand. If you're feeling joy come up, and that's okay too. Let the joy pervade you. Let the joy come up. Don't do anything with it. Let it be. Just come back to the feeling of loving kindness.

The good wishes to yourself. The desire to be happy. And to be well. Just stay with that warmth. With that loving and kind energy. Let the mind settle into it. Don't do anything. Just watch. Just watch the mind sink into that feeling. There is nowhere to go. Nothing to do. There is nowhere to go. Nothing to do.

No one to be. All is well. Now we're going to share this loving kindness. We're going to send it to all beings. We're going to send it to all beings. Just in your mind. Just in your mind. Look ahead of you. Look to the front of you. In your mind. And just say, may all beings be happy.

May all beings be safe. May all beings be safe. May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings be free of suffering. And share your loving kindness. Let it pervade the forward direction. Let it expand. Don't push it. Allow it. Allow it to be there. Allow it to go in the forward direction. Allow it to go in the forward direction.

And just feel that. Just observe it. That's it. And as the loving kindness spreads ahead of you, feel the expansion. Now, we are no longer in our bodies. Now we are no longer in our bodies. Now we are in a conscious space. Beyond the body. Now we are in a conscious space. Beyond the body. Just let the feeling continue. Don't do anything. Don't do anything.

You are a source of loving kindness. You are a light, a lamp of loving kindness. If your mind is wandering or pushing too hard, just recognize it, it's okay. Let it go, soften, come back to your smile and just let the loving kindness flow again, that's it. Just feel the expansion. Now, bring your attention behind you. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be free of suffering. And be filled with loving kindness. Don't push, just let it flow in the backward direction. If you feel sloth and torpor. If you feel like the mind is wandering around, it's okay, recognize it. Let it go.

Feel that warm, loving and kind energy. Just flow out, allow it to spread. Don't push it. Let it pervade all through the right, let it pervade all through the right. Thank you. If you notice the mind pushing, if you notice the mind pushing, if you notice any tightness, just soften, just soften, just relax, just relax, let go, come back to the feeling, just soften, just relax, let go, come back to the feeling and just keep your attention there, that's it. Let the mind settle into it. Let the mind settle into it. Let's go. Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Be happy.

May all beings be safe. May all beings be free of loving-kindness. May all beings be free of suffering. Just let it flow. No pushing. Let it shine out of you in the left direction. If you notice the mind sliding, it's okay. Let it go. Relax. Come back to the feeling. Don't push. Just soften. Relax into it. Let it go. Now bring your attention to below you.

Let your loving-kindness flow downward to all beings in the ground. In the water. To all beings. To all animals. To all birds and reptiles and insects. To hungry ghosts. To beings in the hell realms. May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings come out of their suffering. May all beings be happy and safe. Let your loving-kindness pervade all the lower realms below you.

May all beings experience your loving-kindness. Share it with them. Let them experience it. If you notice your mind wandering around, it's okay. Let it go. Relax. Come back to the feeling. Going out to the lower realms. They all be happy. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. I'm going to go. Let the feeling of love and kindness. Let the feeling of love and kindness pervade all lower beings. Let the feeling of love and kindness pervade all lower beings.

If you notice any sloth and torpor, it's okay. Bring a little focus in your mind. Straighten up a little. Relax. Settle into it. Let the feeling pervade. Let the feeling pervade below you. Let the feeling pervade below you. Now, we're going to turn our attention upwards. Let the feeling of loving-kindness flow out through the top of your head.

Out into the sky. Out into the sky. Out into space. Just feel it flow. Don't push it. Let the feeling go up. Let the feeling go up. Let the feeling go up. To the realm of the four great kings. To the deva realms. Let the feeling go up. To the first brahma loka. Out into space. Out into infinity. Out into infinity. Beyond space.

Out into the second brahma loka. Out into the second brahma loka. Out into the third. Into the fourth. Into the fourth. Out into infinite space. Out into infinite space. Infinite consciousness. Nothingness. Out into infinite space. Infinite consciousness. Nothingness. And neither perception nor non-perception. May all beings in the higher realms be happy. May they be safe. May they be safe. May they be free. May they be free. May they be free. May they be free of suffering.

May all higher beings. May all higher beings. Be filled with loving kindness. May all higher beings be filled with loving kindness. Let that feeling flow upward. Out into space. Out into space. Out into infinity. If you notice the mind drifting. If you notice the mind drifting. Okay. That's fine. Let that go. Relax.

Soften. Keep the mind expanded. Clear and light. Let the mind be spacious. Let the feeling flow. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let the feeling flow out. Remember. There's nothing to achieve here. Nothing you have to be. Nothing you have to reach. Just let the mind be settled. That's it. You. Now we're going to come to the awareness of loving kindness around us. Now we are surrounded in a radiant sphere of loving kindness, an aura of loving kindness.

Let that feeling expand in all directions. May the person in front of you, behind you, to the right of you and to the left feel your loving kindness. May all beings in this room experience nibbana. I have a heartfelt wish that all beings in this room experience the cessation of suffering, and let that aura of loving kindness pervade through you, within you, outside of you, throughout this room. Let the other's loving kindness flow through you. Feel the other's loving kindness in you. Now you have become one symbiotic aura of loving kindness. Allow that feeling to expand.

If the mind is trying too hard, relax, soften, soften. Feel the expansion of loving kindness. It's okay, mind is drifting. It's okay, let it go. Just feel the expansion. Just feel the expansion, soften, relax into it. Move beyond the body. Feel the expansion, soften, relax into it. Move beyond the body, beyond the mind, beyond the mind, beyond this room. Let the feeling go outward in all directions at the same time. May all beings in this building feel your loving kindness, feel your loving kindness, feel your loving kindness. Keep the feeling going, don't push, feel the expansion. Now there is no border between your body and the space around you. It's all just loving kindness. It's all just loving kindness. There is nothing else but the feeling, just loving kindness. There is nothing else but the feeling. Let the feeling flow out, let the feeling flow out throughout the city. Keep expanding. Let the feeling flow out throughout the city. Keep expanding. Let the feeling flow out throughout the city. Keep expanding. Let it pervade all around you. In all directions. Into the sky. Throughout the country.

Throughout the country. Throughout the world. All the country, all peoples, all peoples, all peoples, all peoples, all nations. Everyone feel loving kindness, all peoples, all peoples, all peoples, all nations. Everyone feel loving kindness, all peoples, all peoples, all peoples, all nations. Everyone feel loving kindness, all peoples, all peoples, all nations. Everyone feel loving kindness. Pervade the entire globe with a powerful aura of loving kindness. Pervade the entire globe with a powerful aura of loving kindness. You are that source. You are that source of loving kindness. Expanding outward, expanding outward, in all directions. Out into space. Out into space. Out into space. Out to all the planets in this system. Out to all the planets in this system. Out into space. Out into space. Just keep it going. There is no limit. If you notice your mind drifting, relax, soften.

Come back for the feeling. Allow the flow of the loving kindness to soften, to relax, to become space itself. To become space itself. To become space itself. To become space itself. Let it all go. No expectations. Itself. Let it all go. No expectations. No expectations. No goals. Just the feeling. No expectations. No goals. Just the feeling. Allow the mind to be suffused with it. To be quenched by it. To be quenched by it. To release into it. To release into it. To release into it. To relax into it. To relax into it. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. No one to become. No one to become. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Your body arose. And one day it will pass away. And that's okay. That is the reality of this existence. It's okay. I am not this body. I am not the hair. I am not the skin. I am not the muscles. I am not the eyes. I am not the eyes. I am not the ears, the nose, the tongue, the brain. That keeps changing. That is not me. That is not mine. That is not myself. That is not mine.

That is not myself. Let go. Notice how the body continues to change. And now, it is a corpse. It is a corpse. It becomes bloated and green and livid. That's not you. That's not you. That's just hair and skin and nails, muscles and bones. Nothing to do with me. And now it decays. And now it decays further. Just a skeleton. Just a skeleton.

Are you the skeleton? Are you the bones? Are you the joints? Are you the joints? These are all just form. Let it go. Look deep. Look deep. Look deep into the body. Look deep into the body. Look deep into the body. Into the hair. Into the skin. Into the skin. Into the nails. Into the bones. Into the bones.

Made up of trillions of cells. Are you those cells? Those cells keep going and passing away. Keep arising and passing away. Arising and passing away. Arising and passing away. Changing all the time. Changing all the time. But you are observing it. That's not me. That's not me. That's not mine. That's not mine. That's not myself. Just let it go.

Be free of the body. Be free of the elements. Be free of the elements. Now the body. Now the body has disappeared. No more. Now the body has disappeared. No more. No more. Bring your attention to feeling and sensation. Notice the sound of my voice. Hey attention. To the moment. To the moment. To the moment. To the moment. The sound makes impact.

Onto the ears. Notice it. I'm going to snap my fingers. And I want you to notice the moment of contact. Notice it. I'm going to snap my fingers. And I want you to notice the moment of contact. Notice that contact. And the sensation that arose. That is not me. That is not mine. That is not myself. That is not myself. Notice what's happening inside. Notice what's happening inside of you. The sensations that you're experiencing. Notice what's happening inside of you.

The sensations that you're experiencing. Notice how it feels. Sitting on the chair. Or on the cushion. The sensation of that. You can't change it. Notice the thoughts that arise. Notice the thoughts that arise. Notice the thoughts that arise. Notice the thoughts that arise. You are the observer. Not the thoughts. Notice the thoughts that arise. You are the observer. Not the thoughts. There is only observing going on.

Did you call those thoughts up? Did you ask them to be there? Did you ask them to be there? Did you ask them to be there? Did you ask them? Did you ask them to be there? Did you cause it? Did you cause it? Did you cause it? This is not me? Did you cause it? This is not me?

There is no you after it. There is no you after it. It is just feeling. In the seeing, there is only the seen. In the hearing, there is only the heard. In the sensing, there is only the sensed. In the cognizing, there is only the cognizing, there is only the cognized and the thought. In the cognizing, in the thinking, there is only the cognized and the thought.

I am not in it. I am not it. I am not it. I am not in it. It doesn't belong to me. It doesn't belong to me. Let it go. Let it go. Let all feelings vanish and disappear. Drop them. Let them go. Relief from feelings. That relief also, drop it, let it go. Let the mind be free of all experience, of all feeling.

Now we're going to turn our attention to perceptions. Notice the ideas you have. Notice how when I speak, your mind recognizes my voice. Notice the memories that come up, the concepts that arise. All concepts are dukkha. All proliferation is dukkha. Let it go. It's not worth holding on to. Whatever concepts you have about yourself, about your relationships, about your job, about your career, about your family, and friends, and enemies.

Let them go. They're all concepts. Have nothing to do with you. Relax all ideas. Come to that point where the mind is free of all concepts. That is relief. No thoughts. No mind also. Just relax. Soften. This is not me. This is not mine. This is not mine. This is not myself. Let it go. If you notice the mind wandering, that's okay. That's okay. That's not you.

Why be bothered by it. Just relax. Come back to the stillness. Let it all go. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. And notice how it came to be. Go back and see what caused you. Go back and see what caused you to make that decision. Go back to the source of that. The cause and condition of that.

Let it go. All decisions. All decisions. All intentions. All intentions. Are not me. Not mine. Not mine. Not myself. It's just a river flowing. That's it. Just watch the river. All these choices. All these ideas. All these formations. Arising and passing away. Arising and passing away. Arising and passing away. Arising and passing away. That's it. Nothing else. Just arising and passing away. There is no me in that. There is no me in that. There is no me before that.

There is no me after that. There is no me after that. It's just formations. Let it go. Let it go. Relax. Relax. Be free of all choices. All intentions. Be free of all choices. All intentions. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let go. Let go of the meditator. Let go of the meditator. Let it go. Nothing to do. Nothing to do. Nothing to achieve. Nothing to achieve.

Nowhere to go. No one to be. Sink into just pure awareness. Sink into just pure awareness. Notice the awareness. Notice the awareness. Notice how the mind is aware. Just the observer. Silent witness. The background behind everything. The background behind everything. And just rest in that. Just rest in that. Who is the observer? Who is the observer? What is that consciousness? What is that consciousness?

That awareness? There is the mind. There is the mind. And there is the meditation. And there is the mind watching the process of meditation. Let the meditation go. Let the meditation go. Let the mind go. Let the mind go. Let the meditator go. Let the meditator go. This is not me. This is not mine. This is not mine. This is not myself. But this is not mine. It is not mine. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Soften. Soften.

Whatever comes up, let it be. Let them sink back in. No need to notice or pay attention. Just rest. Just rest. There is nothing here. There is nothing here. There is nothing here. There is nothing here. No one here. There is no here. There is no here. No there. No beyond. No beyond. No now. Nothing. Just let it all go. Just let it all go. Soften and relax. Don't look at anything. Don't look at anything in particular.

Whatever arises. Whatever arises. Whatever arises. Let it be. Let it be. Go beyond. Go beyond. No looking. No looking. No observing. No observing. No awareness. No awareness. No attention. No signs. No direction. Just emptiness. of all things of all formations void of the conditioned relax and let go you you you you oh there's no states I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I