Meditations mapped to the framework
Different traditions, different moves through the same territory. Each practice below is annotated with the attention shifts it produces.
Sit comfortably. Let the body settle. O(b)
Find the breath at the nostrils or belly. Don't control it—just feel it move. O(b)
When you notice you've wandered into thought, T(t) you were lost in thinking without knowing it. The noticing itself is O(t)—thought becomes visible as thought.
Gently return to the breath. O(b) Let the thought go. B(t)
As concentration deepens, the breath becomes absorbing. You're no longer "watching breath"—you're breathing. T(b)
Body, world, self—all recede. B(w,s) Just this.
Primary move: T(t)→O(t)→B(t) — catching wandering, releasing thought. Attention stabilizes on body, which shifts from O(b)→T(b) as absorption deepens.
Lie down or sit. Close your eyes. Notice that a moment ago, most of your body wasn't in experience. B(b)
Bring attention to your left foot. Feel whatever is there—pressure, temperature, tingling, nothing. O(b)
Move to the ankle, the calf, the knee. Each part emerges from blind into opaque. O(b) You're not imagining the body—you're feeling what's actually present.
Continue through the thigh, hip, other leg. Then pelvis, belly, chest. O(b)
Hands, arms, shoulders. Neck, face, scalp. O(b)
Now sense the whole body at once—a field of sensation. O(b) Notice where thought still narrates. O(t)
Let the body just be. Sensation without owner. B(s)
Systematic B(b)→O(b) through each region. Body becomes the field of attention. Thought and self often quiet naturally—B(t), B(s)—as somatic presence fills awareness.
Settle into the body. O(b) Notice whatever emotional tone is already present. O(e)
Bring to mind someone you love easily—a child, a pet, a dear friend. Let the image arise. T(t)
Feel the warmth that comes with them. O(e) This is the feeling you'll cultivate.
Now turn this toward yourself. This is often harder. O(s) Notice any resistance. O(e)
Extend to a neutral person—someone you neither like nor dislike. T(w) They want to be happy too.
Then to someone difficult. Feel the resistance. O(e) Can you find even a sliver of goodwill?
Finally, extend to all beings. The boundary of self dissolves into shared wanting. B(s) T(e)
Emotion moves from O(e) (noticing what's present) to deliberately cultivated T(e)—you see through the feeling, not at it. Self becomes object O(s) then releases B(s) as boundaries soften.
Who is aware right now?
Whatever you find—a sense of "me," a location behind the eyes, a feeling of being the observer—that's an object. O(s) Can you find what's aware of that?
When a thought arises, ask: to whom does this thought appear? O(t)
The answer "to me" is another thought. O(t) Who knows that?
You can't find the finder. The eye can't see itself. B(s)
What remains when you stop searching? B(t)
Rest here. B(s,t) Not as an achievement—as what's always already the case.
Self and thought are made progressively opaque—O(s), O(t)—until the search exhausts itself. What remains is B(s), B(t): awareness without object, presence without center.
Sit in silence. Consent to God's presence and action within.
Choose a sacred word—"God," "Jesus," "Love," "Peace." This word symbolizes your intention to open to the divine. T(m)
When you notice thoughts, O(t) return ever-so-gently to the sacred word. Not fighting thoughts—letting them go like boats floating by on a river.
The word itself may fade. Let it. B(t) The consent remains.
You are not doing anything. B(s) You are being done. The separate self dissolves into the ground of being.
At the end, remain in silence for a few minutes. Let the prayer continue in the depths.
Thought is caught O(t) and released B(t) through the sacred word. Over time, even the word dissolves. The aim is B(s), B(t)—resting in Ground, which this tradition calls divine presence.
Sit with spine straight, eyes slightly open, gaze downward. O(b)
No technique. No object. No goal. Just sit.
Whatever arises—thought, sensation, sound—let it be. O(t,b,w) Don't follow it. Don't push it away. Don't hold it.
Thinking happens. T(t) Notice. O(t) Let go. B(t)
The body breathes. Sounds appear. Nothing is excluded.
Who is sitting? O(s) The question dissolves into sitting. B(s)
Everything transparent. T(*) Nothing held. Practice and enlightenment, not two.
No fixed object means all regions cycle through the modes naturally. The practice is the continuous release: T→O→B for whatever arises. Eventually, the practitioner—B(s)—and the act of practicing dissolve into just-sitting.
Whatever is appearing right now—let it appear.
Don't look at objects. Don't look for awareness. B(a) Just let looking relax.
Thoughts appear and dissolve—like waves in ocean. O(t) The ocean doesn't do anything. Neither do you.
There's no meditator. B(s) No meditation. Just this awake space in which everything happens.
If you get distracted, you're thinking about awareness. O(a) That's not it. Relax again. B(a)
Nothing to maintain. Nothing to achieve. Recognition is instantaneous. T(∅)
Rest here. Or rather—notice you've never left.
The "pointing out" reveals Ground—T(∅)—which was never obscured. Attention itself releases B(a), self releases B(s). What remains isn't a state but the space in which all states arise.
Let your eyes soften. Don't focus on any one thing—let the whole visual field be present. T(w)
Expand to include sounds. Near, far, appearing, disappearing. T(w)
Now include body sensations—all of them at once. O(b) Not scanning, just allowing.
Include thoughts as another kind of appearance. They arise in the same space. O(t)
Nothing is excluded. Nothing is center. Attention is wide and receptive. O(a)
Where are the edges of awareness? O(a) Can you find them?
World stays T(w)—seen through, not examined—but attention expands. All regions become simultaneous guests: T(w), O(b), O(t). The move is not concentration but inclusion.