#846: Permission to Do Nothing — Guided Meditation with Zen Master Henry Shukman

Transcript from https://podmenti.com/t/ea0a0e6c4b7fcd96

Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. This is Tim Ferris. Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferris Show. This episode is a brand new experiment called Meditation Monday.
That means in addition to my long form interviews each week, every Monday, I will be bringing you a short 10 minute or so meditation, which will help you for the rest of the week. Over this four episode series, you'll develop a Zen toolkit specifically to help you find greater calm, peace, and effectiveness in your daily life.
The teacher, Henry Shuchman, has been on my podcast twice before. He is one of only a few dozen masters in the world authorized to teach what is called Sambozen, and I have found this particularly interesting and effective, and now he'll be your teacher.
I've been using Henry's app, The Way.
Once
Often twice a day, and it has lowered my anxiety more than I thought.
Possible. As a listener of the show, you yourself can get thirty free sessions.
by visiting thewayapp.com slash Tim. So if you like what you hear in these meditations, which will be valuable in and of themselves, you can get thirty free sessions by going to thewayapp.com slash Tim. And for the time being, please enjoy this meditation Monday with
Henry Shootman.
Welcome to another meditation with me, Henry Shuman.
There are so many ways that meditation can help us. There are tons of different techniques and methods and approaches.
And all of them have something to offer us.
But at the same time
There is a meditative path that's about doing less than
Not so much about deploying a method or a technique
as simply about learning to kind of
Drop everything.
To not be doing anything and to be coming back.
To an intrinsic
Peaceful.
Well being
That we all have.
As part of our very nature.
But we're not.
very used to tapping into it on the whole.
And in this meditation we're gonna be exploring
That's the
And seeing if we can get a taste of it.
And a taste of the wonder
Of meditation as a kind of non doing.
Or at least as a doing
Less.
So let's come into a comfortable
seated position, I
And invite you to
Get your hands arranged where they they can be
Very relaxed.
In the lap or
On the thighs.
Get your body arranged comfortably.
It's fine to be sitting upright in a chair, but if you're
Not
having your spine supported, then try to be balanced.
So your head.
is approximately over your seat.
And ears over shoulders.
And shoulders.
Over hips.
A short poem to bring us in.
Let
The quiet.
Come.
Let the quiet come.
Don't do anything.
Just let it come.
It will flow in by itself.
The one tied.
You've always been waiting for.
It's coming.
Yeah.
Has sensed it.
And gone still.
The walls, the floor, the windows, the
They already know.
It's just one
Breath.
Away.
Let's do it.
The quiet.
Come.
Be still.
Wait.
Don't
Do
A thing.
So on that.
Note.
Let's
S
Down.
A need to do
I need to perform the
Our meditation
On the contrary.
We just let
Meditative
Awareness.
Come by itself.

So
I invite you to close your eyes if you if you haven't already closed them.
or lower the gaze if you prefer that.
And
Just come
Into
Awareness.
Of this moment.
Of being still.
And of unplugging.
From the activities of your day.
This is a kind of respite.
A refuge.
A sort of
Oasis that you can come back to.
In yourself, in your
Very own experience,
An inner
Peace that's actually
Here.
Waiting.
For all of us.
Just by being still
And being quiet,
And letting our whole system
Power down.
Letting our
Whole system.
go into a a kind of idol.
A restfulness.
An ease.
That simply here is
When we
Detach.
Unattach.
Shm.
The to-do list.
Our agenda.
Our activities.
They'll be waiting for us.
T.
Pick up again, no problem.
After this little spell.
Of quiet.
So sensing your body

Stillness.
And just noticing
Is the
Yeah.
Kind of.
Quiet.
That's present.
Can you taste
The quality of your own
Awareness
Can you sense
A certain
Restfulness.
In your body.
As it's invited into
Stillness.
What's it like?
To grant yourself.
A little window.
A little bit
Pocket of time.
Where you don't have to do anything.
Where it's actually
Endorsed.
To do nothing.
To let go.
Of doing.
Just for a little bit.
It's an
Opportunity, actually.
Uh
Reset.
Uh
Restore ourselves.
To recharge.
Because
We're doing.
Less.
It's also a time when
We come back to something.
A little more.
Fundamental.
In who we are.
A kind of return.

That we've been that's been
And
In a
Innermost part of our
Being
All along.
It's still here.
Kind of patiently waiting.
To be recognized.
Just a moment more.
Of nothing.
Doing.
Of just
Being.
Quietly.
Being.
Let's
Bring a little movement into the feet and the toes.
To the hands and fingers.
Let's raise the gaze, open the eyes, and
Have a little look around you, the space that you're in. Have a little stretch if
That feels supportive and nice.
Great.
Thank you.
Very much again for joining me in this meditation.
Next time we're gonna be exploring how to work with stress.