Expansive Awareness

Bring your whole attention to this body, sitting on the cushion. How do you know your body? What does it convey to you? In terms of sensations and feelings the body coveys to your mind that ‘This is my body’. What is that knowing? The whole body skin conveys heat, coldness, tingling, itching, the contact

point of the cushion, the hardness, heat, and so on. The contact points give different sensations. The upper part of the body, gives you different information, different sensations, feelings. 

On the whole, we sense this body, the breath body, which is breathing all the time. Where is the breathing taking place?Just find out. What does it convey you, as a sensation or feeling? Movement, pressure, rhythm. Or all together? Find out its beginning and end. Where does it start? Where does it end? How does it turn around? 

This whole body is called breath-body. It is breathing all the time. Keeping every cell alive. Different collections of cells as tissues and organs. Body of parts and organs. We have seen skin, flesh and  bone. Earth element, water element, fire element, air element. All 4 dhatus or elements, coming together constructing into a form. The form of plants, birds, animals. The whole earth is a body, a breathing body, a biological living body. Just like the mother earth, we are this body, full of life. Outside, we have plants and animals. Living organisms. Inside also, all the organs are birds, animals and plants. Forms are different, functions are different. 

All organs constructed functionally, to be body. All the life forms, constructed to be on earth. How much is the difference between breathing body and breathing earth? Earth is body. Body is earth. All together, interdependently co arising, continuing, disappearing. A continuum. A continuous cycle, without beginning, without end. 

Try to keep track of the beginning and end of the breathing movement in the body. Either upwards or downwards. From the belly or from your limbs, lower limbs, move to lower abdomen, chest, throat, nostrils and outside space. Or from outside space, nostrils, deep into the throat, chest, abdomen and down below to limbs. This movement is Anapana. In and out movement of breath. 

It doesn’t start from the nostril and end in the abdomen. It starts in the outside environment. Gets into the body. Ensures all cells are living. Goes back to the environment, to the atmosphere. This is interconnected, interdependent. There is no separation. It is unique, separate and collectively standing together. Pratitta samutpada. 

The connection with outside world is two. One is skin. Other is breath. In reality, there is no in and out. There is no you and I. Everything functions in the present moment, in here and now. 

Take some few deep breaths and feel the flow of the breathing movement. From outside, to the nostril, going into the body, that's in the inner part of the body, lower part of the body, coming back, upwards, going out through the nostrils to the environment, dissolved into the atmosphere. Its beginningless endless cycle. Beginningless endless cycle of birth and death. 

Bring your attention from the breath movement to the whole body awareness. From breath movement, inhale, feeling fresh. Exhale, feeling renewed. Inhale feeling fresh throughout the body. Feel the body, how it interacts with the outside world, in terms of air movement, sound, smell, heat, movement. All the dhatus interacting inside and outside. With full stability, balance, total harmony, full awareness. No anchors. No attachment. No grasping of any part of the body. Or outside the body. You are able to hear the voices of many living forms. 

Imagine, if there are no plants or animals outside of us. How it would have been? How lively and vibrant this environment is, all the time! Day and night. Every body of organism, interacting with the environment. Environment continuously interacting with the body, inside and outside, without any discrimination. 

Equality and equanimity all together. Just drop all the anchors. Just be open. Open up to the environment. The outside space. This is an infinite space. Each one of us is able to experience this infinity of spaciousness. Without grasping. Totally open awareness. Open awareness gives us, makes us realise total freedom, complete freedom. Liberation. 

Every species or organism is interacting with us, with other life forms. One with many, many with one. Interdependently interacting. This process of continuum, beginningless endless cycle of life, existence, in this pure awareness, in this sense of pure being, in this spaciousness of emptiness, there is full life. Emptiness full of life and vibrancy. Supporting each other. One with other. Just remain in that open awareness. Just continue to remain so.

There is no identity as you and me and others. Its beyond all definitions, discriminations and frameworks. This awareness is abiding in total non abidance. Fullness in emptiness. Emptiness in fullness. Interdependently arising. Co-arising. Just remain open. Just free yourself of any attachments, graspings. Remain so. Remain so.