Sky Gazing Meditation

I feel blessed every time I walk into our space for class .. meditation is special here as we have the opportunity to be present to the constantly changing sky and water, right at our feet. This is the sunset from two weeks ago .. finishing our meditation and opening our eyes to this vision is just magical.

While we still have a few weeks of warmer weather and balmy evenings (even if the air has become a little crisp) .. we have a wonderful opportunity to explore the magical unfolding of dusk and the night sky, with a leisurely evening walk. Sky Gazing Meditation is an elemental Dzogchen meditation and leads us into a harmony and oneness with nature, dissolving into the infinite by becoming one with the open sky.

Sky Gazing Meditation
(from Lama Surya Das 'Awakening The Buddha Within')

Close your eyes. Still your hands. Have a seat. Take a deep breath, and let it out. And another. Relax. Let go. Drop everything. Rest naturally, and at ease.
Just for a moment, let everything pass by like waves in the sea, like clouds in the infinite sky.
Simply observe. Be still. And Know. Everything is right here.
Let it be.
Leg go and let be.
At ease. Nothing more to do. Nothing to figure out, understand or achieve.
Simply present.
Natural. At home and at ease.
Know yourself.
See things just as they are in the present moment.
Breath in and out. Deeply and slowly. Letting it in, letting it out. Letting go a little more with each breath.
let everything quiet down naturally, by itself.
Breathe, Smile, Be Aware.
Now .. Open your eyes.
Raise your gaze .. Look at the sky.
Space, like mind, has no beginning and no end.
No inside and no outside. No actual form, no colour, no size, no shape.
Mingle the gaze with space; merge mind with infinite, empty space
Dissolve into space - spacious awareness.
Cast the breath into space, following the out-breath - out.
Gaze freely in vast space, into the open sky.
And let go, let go, let go.
Breathe out.
Breathe the sky in and out, and breathe and dissolve into the sky with your out-breath.
Breath out. Open up.
Let it all go.
Let be.
Drop everything, past and future, body and mind.
Mingle with the sky and slowly.
dissolve totally
into the spacious luminous
joy of meditation.