Sky gazing.

While kayaking through the crystal waters of Sierra lakes, have you ever noticed the big boulders that look like a Sasquatch recliner?  They are perfect to lay out on and view the sky above.  These spots call out for a bit of sky gazing.

It is as simple as it sounds. You lay back and relax. As you lay there allow your gaze to soften and expand. As you breathe in and out feel the connection with the immensity before you.

Here, I’m sure a disclaimer needs to be inserted. You are gazing at the sky not the sun. Don’t stare at the sun! The results would be not so bueno. The everlasting blue above is a different story.

Quite a few traditions have concentration, turning inward, and shutting out all external distractions as the core of their meditation practices.  Coming from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, sky gazing heads in the other direction.

As you lay on the rock to gaze at the sky, allow yourself to expand and connect.  With every out breath feel all your contractions release.  The annoying little jabs of the monkey mind, your ego, breath those out as well and let them dissipate into the vastness of the sky. Relax and breathe, feel the space in you. Down at the smallest level you are space. Allow the connection to be formed with the space between the atoms that make up your body and the space between the atoms that make up the sky. Feel that space bond; feel it resonate. When the connection is realized, the annoying random thoughts and distractions can then also be united with the space allowing them to dissolve into it.

Once you can truly feel the connection between the space in yourself and the space in the sky, you will then be able to feel that space in everything. When you feel that, then the realization that all things are connected becomes very clear.

There is nothing to strive for in this meditation. The practice is to simply be. Wherever you are, you can benefit from this practice, except perhaps while driving or skydiving. My favorite is a quite stop on the edge of Lake Tahoe. Where else can I get so much blue?