The Beachcomber approach to meditation practice

At Beachcomber Meditation we will be exploring gratitude during the month of June.

Practicing being grateful generates happiness and joy and so is an obvious habit of happy people. If you want to join us, you can find out more here.

Gratitude is a key element of the Beachcomber meditation practice approach. At the start of most of the practices we bring to mind someone or something we love (things we are grateful for). As we contemplate this person or thing we allow a smile to come on to our face and to reach the eyes.

Smiling in this way calms the nervous system and so is a great way to start a meditation practice.

Next, we notice any feelings of happiness, joy or love that arise when we contemplate this person or thing that we love. Then we imagine breathing these feelings into our hearts and breathing them out around our whole mind and body. We don’t have to do this, we simply trust that it is happening as we breathe.

This naturally brings our attention to the breathing and is likely to deepen the breathing, another way to calm the nervous system.

In addition, any feelings of happiness, joy or love that arise, put us in touch with our true nature. Our true nature is our fundamental okness, that which we call aware being

In life we often struggle because we think that we are the content of our experience. In other words, we think we are our thoughts, emotions and perceptions. However, our true nature is that which knows the thoughts, emotions and perceptions, that which we call our aware being.

The beachcomber approach is all about connecting with the aware being, which is generally overlooked because we are lost in the thoughts, emotions and perceptions. We do this at the start of our practice, as described above.

Then there is the core of the practice, which will change depending on the focus of the meditation, eg. being present by noticing thoughts or sensations, etc. or cultivating qualities, such as gratitude or resilience, etc.

Then as each practice comes to an end, we notice the mental content (thoughts, emotions, perceptions) and become curious about that which knows the mental contents. Then we sense into that which knows and become that. In other words, we abide as aware being.

Aware being is never changing, always calm and happy, and never impacted in any way by the thoughts, emotions or perceptions, however challenging they may be. If we can recognise the aware being and abide as it, we are abiding as our true nature.

This is then available to us all, at any time. It is liberating and is here and now.

Why don’t you join us to find your way to abide in aware being.