by: Seten Tomh
Earth: The Stability of the Body
Sit as you are sitting now, letting the body settle into stillness. Bring awareness to the whole body, feeling its weight, solidity, and groundedness. Attend to the tactile sensations—contact with the seat, pressure, warmth, texture. Let this awareness be steady, without grasping or resistance.
Now, shift attention—not to the body itself, but to the knowing of the body. The body is perceived, but awareness itself is not flesh or bone. Observe this distinction: the body appears in awareness, but awareness is not the body. Rest in this knowing.
Air: The Breath and Vital Energy
Turn your attention to the breath. Do not control it; simply observe its natural rhythm as it moves in and out. Be fully present with the breath, without clinging or interference. As awareness deepens, the breath may slow naturally.
Now, shift attention—not to the breath itself, but to the knowing of the breath. Breathing occurs, but the knowing of it is not breath. Contemplate: awareness knows the breath, but is not the breath. Rest in this recognition.
Water: The Mind’s Flowing Nature
Now, bring awareness to the mind—thoughts, emotions, sensations, impulses. Observe the mind’s shifting nature, like water moving without fixed shape. Let thoughts come and go without grasping or resistance. Simply be aware of the mind as mind.
Now, shift attention—not to the thoughts themselves, but to the knowing of them. Thoughts arise and dissolve, but awareness remains unchanging. Contemplate: awareness knows the mind, but is not the mind. Attend to the essential emptiness of this knowing—luminous, ungraspable, without boundary. Rest in this.
Fire: The Radiance of Awareness
Now, abide in this empty, luminous knowing. Recognize that awareness is not inert but the very source of experience. It is the radiant clarity in which body, breath, and mind appear. Without it, there is no knowing, no movement, no life.
Contemplate: this unconditioned knowing is not passive but the ground of all arising. It is not separate from life itself. Be fully present in this open, boundless awareness, without grasping or fear. Rest in this.
Dharmata 