A Meditation on Letting Go Into Death with Ajahn Nisabho

It's great to meet all of you, so we'll sit together. So begin by setting the body upright. Drawing the lower spine in so it serves as almost a spring. For the upper spine. You can imagine stringing one vertebrae on top of the other as if pearls on a string. String coming up through the top of the head. Drawing the whole body upright. Soften any tension in the eyes. The forehead. Good job. Smile on the inside of the mouth. Soften any tension in the belly. Just allow breathing to deepen and slow. For those who want, you can follow along. Misguided meditation on letting go. It's one of the most powerful meditations I know, but if it gets too intense, please feel free to take a break or return to. A normal meditation object. Imagine you're in a white room, hospital room. And white bed. In a white gown. No windows and no doors. You're about to die. Or if you'd rather, you can imagine yourself in a moonlit grove by a stream, by ferns and moss. Oak boughs overhead, moonlight filtering through them. But also, you're about to die. You said your goodbyes and put your affairs in order. No one else is coming to visit you now. It's just you and your death. So begin by giving back, relinquishing, mentally. All your material objects, possessions. Your house, car. Beloved instrument pictures. Heirlooms, everything. You can't take them with you where you're about to go. They were never yours anyways, so give them back. Let them go. Notice if you... Subtle brightening in the mind and lightening of the heart as you let these things down. Who knew there was such a way? Next, relinquish your relationships and identities. Your death is even closer now. It's almost here. So he rolls as a boss. Or job title. Your role as a parent, a child. Husband, a wife, a lover, put it all back. You can't take any of it with you now. And you lay it all down. Even your name. They were never your identities anyways. They were ever yours to keep. So lay them down before you go. Notice, again, a slight brightening in the mind. Lightning in the heart. From letting go. It's almost time now. See your last moments. So let go of even your body. You can't take it with you. Let it go. Notice the brightness in the mind. What is it you are so scared of? This is what letting go feels like. Can you thank your teachers who gave you such a beautiful death? The ability to let go. If anything is remaining, tying you down. Or a figure standing in the corner, then notice that. But otherwise just rest in. A bright awareness which has let go of burden. For a time finding reprieve in being no one. Wow. I'm carrying nothing. And in that right space of letting go. Feel free to kindle a sense of metta or loving-kindness in the heart. May I be well. May all beings be well. The luminous mind is resonant with warmth. And care. So take a second to invoke that tenderness in the heart. May I be well. May all beings be well. If you notice that warmth of meta. Dwindling or drying up in the heart. And you can rekindle it. Think of someone who cares for you. Gazing at you with genuine goodwill. Wishing you well. And try to inhabit their gaze towards yourself. Find a phrase or a word that opens the heart as well. Forgiveness. You're doing okay. You're only human. Love. Whatever allows the heart to genuinely feel uplift. And the warmth of loving kindness. And when you've kindled that warmth. Resonant with the brightness of the mind that's let go. You can once again let go of the image. And the phrase, and just remain with the sense of... Forgiveness. And as the meditation draws to a close. Coalesce that bright mind state Luminous. Unburdened. Warm. Loving. Coalesce it down into a pearl. That you keep in the center of your chest right above and to the right of the physical heart. A talisman that you can touch. When you forget. A reminder of the luminosity that is a deeper flavor of the mind and heart.