The waterfall meditation is for washing out pains, both bodily and emotional; and thoughts.
This is a version, using nature imagery, of a central Tibetan practice called Vajrasattva. Imagery from nature
is more accessible to many Westerners than the culturally unfamiliar imagery of Tibet.
Waterfall
you might need to wriggle your body a bit to get it straight – you don’t have to sit bolt upright if you don’t want to – make sure your spine is pretty straight – not twisted – have your neck free – your chin not pressed in – not pushed out – so your throat is as free as possible from tension – lift up your shoulders then drop them
Go down into your body – check out your knees – we move into the body space – out of talking – your knees, ankles, wrists, neck – notice how your way of being changes when you go into the body space – out of thinking mind – into another realm other than monkey – monkey’s only one part of us – our body is another – our dreaming mind is another – we’ll dream an image
Imagine you’re in a beautiful sunlit valley – far up at one end are snow mountains – calm, clear, white and peaceful – the valley’s full of nature – birds, trees, flowers, bees – everything you like – down the valley runs a stream – it comes from the mountains – it’s warmed by the sun –
Find a place in that stream where you can lie in the flow of the stream – have it flow down from head to foot – or sit under a gentle waterfall – like a shower -whichever suits you – don’t let monkey mind say oh this shower’s not quite right – I’ll find somewhere else – and walk up and down the stream all day – the first place that comes to you –
Feel it running down your skin – some people will see the beautiful crystal water – some people will feel it on your skin – some people might smell it – whatever senses you use – or just know it’s there, it’s happening – everyone has a different way –
This is the downward flow of release of tension – feel that downward flow carrying away the tension in your body and your mind – you might only get the feeling in parts of you – what parts of you – your head shoulders back – where can you feel this shower or flow going downwards – feel it’s carrying away the sweat and dirt and grime of traffic jams and exertion effort and worry – let it all be washed down – over your face – we carry so much tension in our face – let it wash down over the face –
Now if you feel comfortable let the water flow inside the body through the top of the head or the pores of the skin – and give you an internal shower as well – let it run through the inside of the body – in at the top area and out the feet – continuous gentle flow –
make the flow just right for you – not too fast – not too slow – nice and warm and gentle – You’re practicing what it feels like to release tension into the flow – like you do in the shower – if any monkeys start chattering and you forget about the water – as soon as you notice the monkey’s chattering, say hello monkey – go back to the water – a great way to deal with monkey is to go to other parts of you – so we’re going to this shower – flowing down inside the body – which is a different realm from monkey
let it feel like you’re dreaming – don’t make effort – if you try to visualize it, it’s probably less likely to happen – if you just feel, I’m having a dream – it might make it easier – let the flow happen naturally in your dream – beautiful clear water gentle soft warm – exactly right for you – washing through you –
any parts of your body that specially need it – if there’s tension in your shoulders or belly – make sure the water goes through there – and washes through the tension – feel or dream that the water is dissolving the tension as it goes through – and carrying it away – so the tension is releasing – dream that – you might find there’s all sorts of different kinds of tension or pain in different parts of your body – let the water go through every bit that calls your attention –
if monkey comes along chattering – give monkey a shower as well – let the thoughts and chatter dissolve into the water and flow – release –
notice as the tension is dissolved that the water coming in is bringing into your body and mind and heart all the beautiful qualities of nature – this meditation washes away the difficulties then brings in anything you want – the peace of the mountains – calm – the vitality of nature – the shining beauty of living things – let that wash into you and fill your body with its radiance – the courage and perseverance of nature – whatever qualities you need – the water brings them in and fills you up with them – it keeps flowing down and saturates you with the peace and the beauty on the way through –
feel these qualities physically – if you’re bringing in calm what does that feel like – as it flows through the body – dream the feeling of calm – keep the flow going – the flow that releases tension – dissolves pain
don’t expect it to be perfect – the monkey can have a go at you for not being perfect – if the monkey does have a go at you – wash that out too –
it’s not going to happen in one hour – you may find when you meditate like this all sorts of tensions you hadn’t even noticed show up – you might feel worse – you’re becoming aware – awareness is the great balm – the great healer – not an instant fix – a great healer –
if anyone’s going to sleep with all this relaxation – stay aware – this water is the light of awareness – we’re pouring the light of awareness into the body – that dissolves the tension – just like when we become aware of the monkey and it stops –
check what’s your state now – is there more calm than at the beginning – what is the calm like – we’re getting to know the sensations of calm and beauty and other things – getting to know what it’s like – what does your body and spirit feel like now – if it’s not calm that’s all right too – notice what’s happening –
let this beautiful dream image go let it dissolve into the great spaciousness – sit in that spaciousness for a while –
(wat hvwmn m1 190314)