If you’re familiar with my approach to teaching meditation, you’ll know that I often stress the importance of having “soft eyes.” This involves three key things: relaxing the muscles around your eyes, keeping your focus soft, and being open to whatever you see in your entire visual field.
When we do these three things, our minds tend to become much quieter, our bodies start to relax, and our breathing slows down and deepens, moving more into the belly. When we then turn our attention inward to our body, we can sense sensations from all over. The rhythm and sensations of breathing can be felt throughout the body, making the breathing experience richer and the mind calmer for a longer period.
This method can easily deepen our meditation practice. Instead of struggling with distractions to find moments of calm, we can achieve calmness much more quickly and effortlessly. This approach typically works well for me.
However, there are times it doesn’t work, especially when I’m very tired, which has been the case recently because a new puppy needs to go out during the night, cutting into my sleep. So, what can be done in such situations?
I’ve found using a few phrases helps me stay on track. When we are distracted, our attention moves away from our immediate bodily sensations into the realm of imagination. The phrases I use help redirect my focus back to the present moment.
The timing of these phrases is crucial and something you’ll need to find out for yourself. Repeating a phrase before every breath might feel overwhelming. It’s important to connect with your experience silently, which means observing the sensations of breathing without speaking to yourself. After saying phrases like “body alive” and “meeting everything with tenderness,” simply stay with your breathing for approximately two or three breaths, or even more if it feels right.
How long you stay silent between phrases depends on your level of distraction. If you get distracted, shorten the gap between phrases. If you’re focused, you can lengthen the time between phrases. If you’re very focused, you might even try just using “eyes soft” and “eyes kind” with a few silent breaths in between, adjusting as needed.
Repeating phrases mechanically won’t be effective for long as it becomes unmindful. Varying the frequency and order of phrases helps keep you alert and focused. For example, sometimes I’ll adjust the phrases and the silent breaths between them to see what works best for quieting the mind.
This practice has become part of my jhana teaching and practice. In the first level of jhana, thinking can still be present, and this kind of thinking helps direct us toward a deeper body experience. Feel free to experiment with these tools and let me know how it works for you.
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Dear Bodhipaksa, during my first Vipassana course with Mother Sayama, I felt immense joy, bliss, and contentment. But in subsequent courses with Goenka assistant teachers, I felt nothing. My practice feels hollow and mechanical. I need more warmth and feeling. Can you recommend a Jhana teacher in eastern Australia (not Ajahn Brahm)? With all my meditation experience, I feel confident of success. Thank you so much.
Hi, Roderick.
Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any Jhana teachers in eastern Australia. It’s possible your initial experience and the later hollow feeling aren’t related to the teachers. Your shift might be due to changes in your attitude during meditation. If Jhana came naturally to you before, you might now be grasping for it, which can hinder the experience.
I suggest:
1. Reframe your attitude towards meditation.
2. Avoid grasping for past experiences.
3. Focus on being present and playful.
I hope this helps bring more life into your practice. Often, a change in attitude is all that’s needed to rediscover the joy and aliveness in meditation.
Thank you again for your reply, Bodhipaksa. Your advice to demystify Jhanas and trust oneself is valuable. I’ll try to spend more time meditating, relax, soften up, and smile more. I might also do another retreat to deepen my concentration while following my own path to Samadhi.
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