(4) MIDL Insight Meditation: How to Develop Skill in Letting Go: GOSS

[@InnocentBoyV]

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[@nishitakulkarni9703]

Thank you Stephen. This is great talk!

[@jennywiltshire7354]

At first i was thinking, wow, this is a lot of information. But then the penny dropped (i think…there seems to be a lot of pennys waiting to drop in this machine lol). Anyway, after a while a sensation arrises in the body. Might be say a tightness in the gut or the shoulders. Not a pleasant sensation, ok, so what, you don’t have to get all huffy about this unpleasant sensation, just do the cool trick of softening under the eyes and relaxing the frontal lobes and you get a bit of a higher perspective of the sensation, and then the unpleasantness seems to dissolve into a much nicer sensation associated with acknowledging the initial sensation and just relaxing into it and acknowledging it as just another thing happening in the body and for some reason that feels real nice. Stephen, is that what is meant to happen? Thank you do much for your instruction it really is some of the most profound content. 🦋

[@midlinsightmeditation]

"....Anyway, after a while a sensation arrises in the body. Might be say a tightness in the gut or the shoulders. Not a pleasant sensation, ok, so what, you don’t have to get all huffy about this unpleasant sensation...." Yes, this is correct, unpleasant feeling cannot hurt us in any way because it is merely a danger signal produced by our mind. A smoke alarm signaling a fire. The alarm itself isn't the problem though we may not like it, the feeling of unpleasantness isn't a problem, even though we may not like it. "...just do the cool trick of softening under the eyes and relaxing the frontal lobes and you get a bit of a higher perspective of the sensation..." Yes, notice the effort within your body and mind to resist, to like/not want the unpleasant feeling. And gently soften/relax first mental than physical effort. Relaxing the effort that supports resistance, letting it go. As you soften/relax this effort awareness will naturally return to your body again and ground within it. Ground > observe > soften > smile > ground > etc. "...and then the unpleasantness seems to dissolve..." The unpleasantness may or may not dissolve, remember it is simply a danger signal of your mind. It is not the unpleasant feeling that causes suffering, it is our resistance towards it. Soften/relax the effort to resist and even if the unpleasantness stays, the suffering dissolves. Suffering is the gap in expectation between what we are experiencing now, and what we think we should experience now. Softening closes this suffering expectation gap. "...into a much nicer sensation associated with acknowledging the initial sensation and just relaxing into it and acknowledging it as just another thing happening in the body and for some reason that feels real nice..." The pleasure of letting go is the pleasure of going on a holiday, of putting down a heavy burden, of not having to do something anymore. Whenever we soften the effort to feel attracted, averse or indifferent towards what we are experiencing, the pleasure of letting go is available. The smile in GOSS refers to smiling into and enjoying the pleasure of letting go whenever it is available to reward our mind for letting go. Our mind soon learns that clinging to things is never satisfying and that releasing them, letting them go is always freeing and pleasurable. In this way a momentum of letting go develops in all aspects of our life. How to develop this momentum of letting go through calm & insight is what is being trained in the free online midl insight meditation course. midlmeditation.com/main-meditation-menu

[@jennywiltshire7354]

Hi Stephen. I am extremely grateful for your reply as it validates my interpretation of the experience. Thank you for all your hard work. And the wheel turns…