This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Guided Meditation: Giving Time to Giving Attention; Eightfold Path (8 of 10) Holistic Mindfulness. It likely contains inaccuracies.

Guided Meditation: Giving Time to Giving Attention; Eightfold Path (8 of 10) Holistic Mindfulness

The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on October 22, 2025. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Guided Meditation: Giving Time to Give Attention (link)

Good day, everyone. Welcome to our morning meditation. Having started a little earlier today here at IMC with meditating, I feel a little quieter than usual sitting down.

What I would like to offer today is a way of orienting ourselves in becoming mindful, becoming aware, waking up to this moment. The foundation or the support for mindfulness is a form of generosity, and a particular form which is to give time to whatever it is that you're knowing. Whatever you know, whatever is happening in the present, or the present moment manifestation of anything that comes into awareness, give that present moment manifestation time. Time to be known, time to be heard and felt, seen.

The way I worded it includes thinking about the past and the future. Rather than staying in the past and future, rather than investing yourself in concern with it, the investment of practice is giving time to the present moment manifestation of that. The fact that you're in the present moment, you're thinking about the past, what's that experience like? Give time to the experience of it, to what it feels like, what it's like, the speed of your thoughts, the intensity of the images, how you might be leaning into it or investing in it.

If you're feeling some emotion, give time to know it, to feel it. Give it its time to be there in the field of awareness. If it's your breathing, give time to know an inhale and exhale. Give time to know the rhythm of breathing in and breathing out. Give everything its time, one thing at a time, as if you have all the time in the world. The duration of giving something time is however long that lasts before you have to do it again. In that time that you give to things, let there be a heightened getting to know the thing, getting to feel it, sense it, be with it. Give time to all things that occur, one thing at a time, as if you have all the time in the world.

Finally, one of the big supports for this is to assume a posture where there are no obstacles, no limitations, no crunching up of your breathing. The diaphragm has space and room to move freely. There's space for the belly to expand fully as you breathe in. There's space for your rib cage and the space between your rib cage to expand. So be careful with your posture, that the posture is not limiting the freedom of your breathing.

Gently close your eyes. Give time to feel your whole body, as if you're giving time to a friend to really be present for them. Then within this body, maybe you can find some enjoyable, fuller breaths. Slowly, calmly breathing in, relaxing as you exhale.

Letting your breathing return to normal. Give a bit of time to feel if there's any pressure or tension, contraction in the thinking mind. If there is, feel it fully as if you have all the time in the world on the inhale to allow it to be there. And on the exhale, soften the thinking mind.

On the next exhale, settle your attention down into the torso to feel the sensations of breathing. As if you have lots of time, give time to feel an inhale. Give time to feel the exhale while it's there.

Staying with the alternation of breathing in and out, the expanding and contracting of the torso, the movements in the body of breathing. Giving time and attention to breathing in a way that supports the quieting of the thinking mind.

If something is happening in the present that's more compelling than the breathing, give time to know it, perhaps knowing it in the same rhythm as breathing in and breathing out. Giving time to know it for however long it takes to breathe in, to give the time it takes to breathe out to know the thoughts, the feelings, sensations, whatever is happening. Let it be known with a sense of spacious time.

Being aware, one thing at a time, as if you have lots of time. With that as a reference, maybe you'll notice how you're mindful, how you're aware, might be somewhat in a hurry, wanting something to happen. Or sometimes lagging behind in time, not really there, partly because we're thinking about what's happening. Or maybe you've stepped out of time entirely, out of the present moment flow of time, to be absorbed in thoughts, fantasies.

When we give time to whatever is happening in the present, we are also then living in the live time, the time that's in a sense alive because it's how we are experiencing ourselves now. If we lose awareness by being absorbed in thoughts, we're no longer living in time. Only in the present are we in time.

As we come to the end of the sitting, do so while remaining in time, the way that the present moment is always the lived time of now. In giving time to what's unfolding here and now, the lived experience.

Then considering, bring into mind all the people who are alive around you right now. The people who might be in your neighborhood, on the streets, in the wide area where you live, the ecosystem of your place. Imagine giving everyone time if they're in front of you. Giving them time. It's a phenomenal gift. We can give the gift of our attention where people feel like we're giving them our time. Giving time, allowing them time, as if we respect them, we value them, we care for them.

May how we give time to every person be an expression of a deep care, deep compassion, respect.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be free.

Thank you.

Dharmette: Eightfold Path (8 of 10) Holistic Mindfulness (link)

Hello everyone and welcome. Continuing this series on the Eightfold Path, we're coming now to mindfulness. Traditionally, it's called in English "right mindfulness." I'm calling it "holistic mindfulness." One of the advantages of this word "holistic" over "right" is that "right" implies "wrong" in English. It's not so clear that the word sammā¹, translated as "right" or "holistic," "whole," "complete," has "wrong" as the right translation of its opposite. There's a word, micchā², and it means something like contrary or separate—that which separates, that which is contrary to the whole, that which separates us from the whole, that which takes us in the wrong way, takes us away from the whole.

So there are things we can do where we lose the sense of wholeness, the sense of completion where all of who we are is included, all of life is included in a certain kind of wonderful way. That's part of that special task of sati³, often translated as mindfulness, which is to open up to a kind of luminous awareness, an awareness that's inclusive of it all. In this regard, this word sati is more like a state than it is a particular activity. There's a strong tendency, as Buddhism went along and into the modern world, to think of sati as a unique mental action that we do, of knowing, or for some people, it's noting.

There are mental actions involved in mindfulness practice, just as there is for samādhi⁴ practice. But the word samādhi refers to a general state that we enter into when we apply our attention to be focused, one-pointed, to be continuous. There are these things we do—continuity, focus, one-pointedness, letting go, staying here—that then open up to a state of deep calm, peace, and well-being that is samādhi.

In the same way with sati, there are particular things we do. We know the breath, we sense an experience, we know, we sense, we feel, we observe. There are things that we offer, we contribute in doing mindfulness practice, but sati itself is a kind of open, broad sense of awareness that's more of a state. Never in the suttas does the Buddha give instructions to do sati. Sati is something we enter and abide in; it's something that we establish. So we establish ourselves here in present moment awareness, but it's not a specific action as much as it is more of an allowing of our natural capacity to be conscious, to be aware, to be here.

To support that and to stay in the flow of it, we offer these gentle, relaxed kind of footsteps in the middle of the wide field that we're walking to stay in the field, to stay present. And that is to know, to recognize what's happening. This is an in-breath, this is an out-breath. Or we sense it. We sense, "Oh, this is what an in-breath feels like, the sensations of it. This is what the out-breath feels like." Or sometimes we're very settled and it's more like we're on a settled, relaxed vista view, like being at the beach and looking out across the ocean to the horizon, or at a vista point in the mountains with a vast view. We can just settle back and just observe. We're observing the spaciousness in the natural world. And sometimes what keeps us in the present moment, keeps us in this state of being aware, is this capacity to settle back and just observe the present moment as it's unfolding.

So there is this kind of wonderful play at work in holistic awareness, holistic mindfulness, between what we offer to show up and be present for something, to be here, and what we allow. In that play, sometimes we have to emphasize our contribution: show up, wake up. Give time so we can be in this awareness. Give time for whatever is happening so you can stay present, stay awake to it, stay aware of it. In my vocabulary, I like the language of "getting to know" something. If you want to get to know someone really well, it isn't just listening to their story and hearing what they have to say, but it is to be aware of their whole being—how they are feeling emotionally, their mood, their abilities, how they walk and how they sit, and what's being expressed in their gestures. There's so much going on in a human being. To get to know them is to kind of pay attention to all that's there, as if all of who they are is respect-worthy, is valuable. You want to get to know someone.

So, to give time. I find that one of the little tools of being present, being aware in this state of awareness, is to be calm and relaxed. I don't think I can over-encourage people to really learn how to relax deeply—not just the surface tension, but really develop a capacity to recognize subtle tension and learn to soften and relax while staying alert. Relaxing the mind, relaxing the heart, softening, letting go of the way we brace ourselves to life. Settle, relax the belly, make room for the breathing. There's a calming that happens; the whole system calms and softens the more relaxed we are.

There's a way in which tension, when we hold tight, actually fuels thinking, it fuels rumination, spinning thoughts, the more physically tense we are. So, to relax deeply supports a kind of open awareness, a relaxed awareness, a present moment awareness that is more like a state of being here. And now we have more we can offer others. Now we can give time to others.

This little tool of giving time—I like the word "giving," it's a form of generosity. If someone is having some tragedies happen to them, they're quite upset, then it's okay. I have other things to do, but I'm going to give this person time. I'm going to sit with them and just be present for them. Maybe they don't need much from us, but just someone who sits on the bench with them and accompanies them. Giving people time, giving the present moment experience time, giving ourselves in our present moment experience time. If we feel tense and not relaxed, give time to feel that tension. Give time to it, allow it to be there, know it.

This combination of relaxing and giving time makes more room for the total combined ways that we sense and know. Our whole psychophysical system, a big part of it, is attuned to taking in data and information from the whole world around us through all the senses. We can see, we can hear, we can smell, we can taste. There's a whole slew of ways in which we sense through the body—warmth and coldness and pressure. The physical sensation, what goes on in the body, is so much information. We're aware of what goes on internally to ourselves through what's happening in the body. We're aware of what's going on outside. The body and mind are very responsive to the sensory input that comes in, and also very responsive to what goes on in the mind that gets expressed in the body.

So there's all this knowing and sensing and recognizing and remembering. There's a whole field that operates in a relaxed way, in harmony, in unity. And that unified, relaxed way in which we make room for the whole inner intelligence of sensing and feeling the present moment, knowing it—that's what's available when we have holistic awareness, the seventh factor in the Eightfold Path. We step into more of a state, more of an abiding, more of a resting, a holistic, unified way in which all our senses, all our knowing can operate together.

That can't operate all together if the mind is contracted, is tight, fixated on some one thing—fixated on fear, fixated on desire, fixated on certain thoughts and ruminations over and over again. We limit ourselves then. To practice this Noble Eightfold Path is to learn how to step out of the ways in which we live a limited life, a contracted life, a life which is separate from the whole, a life that moves away from the whole, and to learn how to move towards the whole of who we are.

The great fruit of all this is holistic mindfulness, a state of being aware. It's the seventh step in the Eightfold Path. I like to believe that if we practice the first six well, each of those has a holism to them, waking up a whole sense of who we are, and they support holistic awareness, holistic mindfulness.

So, you might try today as you live your life to see what it's like to give awareness, give attention to whatever is happening in the moment. Give yourself extra time so that you have time to really be in time, as time is alive because you're alive in the present. Give time to be in time. Give time to be aware of what's happening here. Give time to your friends, to your activities. And see if in giving time, you find yourself more at ease in a state of awareness.

May this day be a day of luminous awareness.

Thank you.