There is an image in the suttas of a liberated mind. It's that of a very clear mountain lake. You can see right through the water, to see clearly what's in the water. The pebbles and the rocks and things on the ground, on the lake bottom, the shellfish, a little shell, life that's there. And what delights me the most is these little schools of fish, some just hovering still, and some gently, maybe lazily, kind of moving through the water. And so this image, both of the mind, is being a field of clarity, but also for how we practice. If the mind is our clear mountain lake, maybe the way the fish lazily move gently, so do we swim with these three modes of attention. Sometimes we're sensing, sometimes there's more knowing, sometimes there's an intimacy of the two where what we know is our sensations. or what we sense is the mind's knowing. And then the third, watching, observing. Sometimes one is emphasized more than the others, but even so there might be a natural movement between them. Sometimes sensing, sometimes knowing, sometimes observing. And I associate each of these three modes with a different aspect of practice. Maybe you have a different association, but I'll offer you mine. I associate sensing, which is physical, embodied, to be grounding, a place of a way of settling, as if each sensation is gently being welcomed by gravity, to settle. Right. I associate sensing more with concentration, to have some immersion in an area of sensation that becomes the gathering place, the unification place for the mind and body. I associate sensing more with concentration, to have some immersion in an area of sensation that becomes the gathering place, the unification place for the mind and body. And both grounding and concentrating involve a continuity of attention. not forcefully, but with the pressure maybe of petting a cat. There has to be contact, but not too little and not too much. I associate knowing with the yoni, this deep generative place where mammalian care flows, to know with care, caringly, to know kindly. to recognize knowing as a form of love, not as a form of aggression or not as a means of acquisition, attainment of something. Just to know and love this, a knowing that allows for the inner growth. And I associate watching with freedom. And for now, not necessarily your freedom, But rather, how the mind gives freedom to all that is known, all that is sensed. It can be neurotic to keep focusing on your own freedom, liberation. It can be a relief to be less self-focused and more focused on granting everything that comes into awareness. It's freedom from you. allowing each thing just to be itself, maybe even without reference to stories you have about yourself, so that knowing and sensing can be very simple. And if breathing is a useful place for you to rest the attention, maybe beginning with sensing the body breathing. So those sensations can be grounding, or in the language of the suttas. So those sensations can be settling, a place where we steady ourselves. So those sensations can be grounding, or in the language of the suttas. So those sensations can be settling, a place where we steady ourselves. And if you allow yourself to know more freely what's happening here and now, then you know it kindly, you know it gently. even if it's difficult. And with a wider, broader recognition of what's happening, does that information give you an idea of how to be more settled on breathing, in the middle of it all, and then sometimes to be watching the soft gaze of observation, If you're less concerned with what you're seeing, but rather focused on how softly, relaxedly you can watch, what might that teach you about giving freedom to what is known? And part of leaving things alone, giving them their freedom, is to allow each sensation, each act of knowing, Each moment of watching, let everything that's known just allow it to be itself without reference to past and future, allowing the direct experience of now, what can be seen, what's immediate, to let it be in time. And the only way to be in time The only place where time itself kind of exists as a thing is now. Anything else are concepts of past and future coming. Allow yourself to be in time. And then finally to say, it's best to understand that your practice will never be perfect, but it might be useful. to focus more on how your practice is giving freedom to each thing, how your practice is connecting to here and now, rather than being preoccupied by how you're not. to focus more on how your practice is giving freedom to each thing, how your practice is connecting to here and now, rather than being preoccupied by how you're not. Whatever way the practice is going well for you, trust that, appreciate that. Let that be your home. Thank you. If you are steady here in time of now, and you allow for sensing, knowing, watching, relaxing, rather than doing them, can you make room for the natural ways in which these work for you? That they are happening, occurring, and you making room for it, so that all things that are known and felt and seen are known simply. And if the simple allowing of the natural process of awareness to operate causes you to drift off in thought, get dull, then offer a little more energy, purpose, dedication, just enough to keep you here. swimming in awareness with sensing, knowing, watching.