In this tranquil session, Ram Dass, a revered figure in mindfulness and consciousness, guides listeners through a serene meditation by the riverbank of the mind. He discusses concentration techniques to gently refocus attention whenever it wanders. The practice evolves into a mindfulness exercise, encouraging awareness of thoughts and sensations without attachment. Ram Dass also delves into self-care and the philosophical depths of existence, prompting reflection on identity and consciousness as listeners embrace the calm flow of their inner experiences.
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Samadhi Practice
Focus your awareness on your breath, noticing the beginning, middle, and end of each inhale and exhale.
If your mind wanders, gently guide it back to your breath without judgment.
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Mindfulness Practice
Shift from focused attention to mindfulness by observing thoughts and sensations without clinging.
Notice these mental events arise, exist, and pass away.
insights INSIGHT
Riverbank Metaphor
Our experience of reality is a stream of thoughts and sensations, creating a sense of solidity.
Observing these individual events reveals the impermanent nature of our experience.
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In this half-hour guided meditation, Ram Dass uses concentration and mindfulness techniques to help us sit on the river bank of the mind and watch the thoughts, sensations, and feelings flow by.
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Take a seat on the river bank of your mind with this guided meditation Ram Dass conducted during a retreat in Vancouver, Canada, in February 1992.
Ram Dass begins the guided meditation with a Samadhi, or concentration, practice. “Every time the mind wanders to any sensation or thought,” he says, “the minute you notice that it has wandered away from the breath, just very gently, non-judgmentally, draw the awareness back to the next breath.”
The meditation shifts to a mindfulness practice. “Now just open up into mindfulness,” says Ram Dass, “just being aware of what is. Let the mind be drawn to whatever primary object it is drawn to. If it’s drawn to a feeling in your back or in your legs, notice that. If it’s drawn to a memory or a plan or an emotion, a listening, tasting, whatever sensation or thought, let it flicker to that, let it sit with it, don’t hold onto the thought or sensation, and then watch it be replaced by another one.”
For the last part of the meditation, Ram Dass tells us to focus on the thought of “I.” He says, “Look and see if you can find out where that is. Where is the thought of I? Who is this I? In the ocean of awareness, where is I?”
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“It’s as if you were sitting on a river bank watching the mind’s stuff go by. Here comes a floating sensation from the knee. Here comes a thought about the whole process. Here comes the listening to a sound. They just come, and they go.” – Ram Dass
Ram Dass Here And Now 