“What you are experiencing is not a body, but a boundary”
During meditation today, use your own body as your distraction. That means the space where you will move around during meditation is your own body. So, start with the breath. Just observe the breath. Be in that tiny zone of the breath. When you feel it is becoming difficult to be with the breath or your mind is trying to drift somewhere else, then move across your body; experience the sensations of your body. For a moment reflect on your legs—just the sensations of your legs—then slowly move up your body. Come back to the breath. Sometimes just reflect on your face: Okay. This is where I am sitting. This is my face. Move around a little; feel the tiny sensations on your skin. You will experience a lot when you observe. Come back to the breath again. Use your body sensations as your distraction and your breath as your anchor.
Don’t move out into imagination, thinking or listening; just feel the body. The body is amazing, and the more you observe it, the more you realize that what you are experiencing is not a body, but a boundary. The body is a boundary between the inner and the outer. It is the boundary of sensations, and there is nothing else to the body apart from this boundary of sensations. This is why pain is the only way we experience our bodies. If you take away pain, physical pain, then we cannot experience our bodies at all.
Every sensation is pain, although what we have recognized as pain is a certain level of intensity. When somebody touches you gently, it is perceived by you as simply a touch. When somebody hits you with force, then it is pain. It is the same thing. When a mosquito just sits on you, it is just a small sensation, but when a mosquito bites you, then you recognize the sensation as pain. Pain is nothing but an intensified sensation, and the body is one field of pain. That pain is what you are trying to transcend through meditation. There is nothing else you need to realize more than your body is just a bundle of pain, sensations, and is external to you. Your body does not belong to you.
This is a beautiful way to meditate. It gives you enough space to move around, and you will also be able to see what you are trying to go beyond. When you think, Oh I want to experience enlightenment, I want to experience transcendence, you’re not sure what it is that you want to go beyond. Still, life is exquisite. There are gardens, sunshine, and beautiful things all around; life is a rich tapestry of colors and beauty. So why do you need to transcend all of this? You will know the reason why when you start observing your body. Life is beautiful all around you, but your body is painful. Your body is a constant pain, even now. Just close your eyes and reflect on your body. You will see how much pain there is. Just observe it: back pain, joint pain, skin problems, sinus issues…
This is a beautiful meditation. Be with the body for a few moments and then come back to the breath. Repeat.
