A Scenic Tour of the Mind + TWO 17-Minute Meditations

Four stops on the road of inner experience

Scroll down for TWO guided meditations this week

Hello friends -

A number of you said you enjoyed the mind states meditation from a few weeks back, so this week I decided to expand the exploration, and invite you on a spirited tour of your mind. The mind of course is a wonderful destination, both portable and affordable, with many interesting sights and sounds, from images of Freudian freight trains going through tunnels to emotional longing to bland subconscious list-making and eensy-weensy twitches of synaptic anticipation.

Your adventure has two parts (both were recorded at a recent Omega retreat). The first begins with five minutes of teacherly framing, and then we wander through four elements of inner experience: imagery (thoughts you see), inner talk (thoughts you hear), emotional body sensations (feelings), and subtle motor tugs (a bit harder to describe - the intention to move, for example). You may object: “But surely there are kinds of thinking that don’t fit into those boxes, for example, ‘a sense of knowing.’” Maybe. Everything we experience has to exist somewhere. My suspicion (via Shinzen) is that any thinking we can’t locate is actually a subtle version of the images, talk, and feelings described above. But who knows! Regardless, all this is definitely something we get clearer about with practice.

Click play below for Adventure 1:

Why would anyone wish to develop such anal clarity about something so utterly insignificant? Simple: instead of being lost in thought, we can be found in it. Then we can decide for ourselves if that is where we want to stay. That’s level one.

Level two is deeper: we do this so that we can add an appreciation of the beatific bloom of the inner world to a concurrent appreciation of the beatific bloom of the outer world, thus becoming a connoisseur of more of life, and doubling our field of play and (crucially) acceptance. Eventually, we can learn to ride that integrated field like giddy cosmic snowboarders on a timeless afternoon.

If the first meditation primes us to the different spatial “locations” of inner talk and image and all the rest, this second practice – a far more leisurely exploration – is an opportunity to sit back and let any insights come all on their own. Or perhaps the experience of peace, space or blessed silence is insight enough.

Click play below for Adventure 2:

Always and forever in appreciation,

Jeff

PS - Extended version below, to blow your minds-ish.

A few quick notes—

• The Do Nothing Project (DNP) is now happening on Substack. The next one is this Sunday, February 8 at 8pm EDT. Link here.

• New to Home Base? We have over 60 free guided meditations in our audio library, over 350 meditations on YouTube, and a growing number of community practice videos. All can be part of your daily meditation support.

Beneath the Waves: An Immersive Evening of Meditation

February 26, 2026
Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver, British Columbia

Come meditate with the fishies!

Join meat this one-of-a-kind fundraiser for Hollyhock at the Vancouver Aquarium. Expect an evening of guided meditation in the spooky depths of the aquarium after dark, alongside psychedelic jellyfish, patrolling sharks, and curious otters. Proceeds go to support Hollyhock’s scholarship fund, and to increase accessibility to all programs. If you’re in the area, come say hi!