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Meditation on Thoughts 

Audio Dec. 8, 2020
A painting of a river surrounded by yellow brush and snowy ground with a blue sky stretching above
Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Enjoy this meditation on thoughts, paired with By the River by Edward Willis Redfield. Follow along with the audio or text below.

Step-by-Step Meditation

  1. Breathe deeply as you look at the painting.
  2. Focus your attention on the river. Notice how the brushstrokes make the water appear to be moving slowly despite the chunks of ice in the left corner.
  3. Close your eyes and imagine your consciousness is this river and each passing thought is a small piece of ice.
  4. Stay in the present moment by observing each thought as it passes by.
  5. Label each individual thought and meditate on it until a new thought emerges. Some thoughts you may observe are memories, planning, sounds, or sensations.
  6. Try not to judge each thought. Simply acknowledge the thought and use it as a tool to meditate upon.
  7. Continue like this as you build awareness of your thought patterns and remain in the present moment.