The Mountain Meditation is a wonderful way to develop equanimity,
Which is mental calmness,
A sense of feeling composed no matter what the situation,
An ability to deal with ups and downs without being on a rollercoaster,
The ability to handle situations calmly.
The ability to be content is part of equanimity.
Equanimity is a very important concept in Buddhism,
And some of the Buddhist texts talk about equanimity as being an expansive mind state without hostility,
Without aggression.
I tie equanimity to a feeling of being okay with everything as it is,
Which is also okay with knowing what I might want to work to change and what I'm okay leaving as is and what I'm happy about and what's not so happy about.
It's all okay.
So let's do the Mountain Meditation.
So I'd like you to bring to mind a beautiful mountain,
One of the most beautiful mountains you've ever seen.
And if you can take a posture sitting on the floor,
Cross-legged,
Maybe on a cushion so your seat is elevated,
Your hips are above your knees on the floor,
That's a triangle position.
It's wonderful to do the Mountain Meditation in a triangle position.
But if a chair is more comfortable for you,
That is fine as well.
Sit with your spine upright,
The top of your crown pulled towards the heavens.
Feel your seat in the chair and your feet on the floor.
And as you sit in this upright,
Solid position,
Bring to mind this beautiful mountain.
Really picture this mountain as somebody looking at the mountain.
Just notice what you feel.
Picture what kind of day it is.
What emotions are evoked in you as you look at this mountain?
And maybe just take a moment and picture the mountain on a beautiful day.
The sun is shining,
The birds are singing.
Everything is sparkling on the mountain.
And now take a moment and picture the mountain in a storm,
A wild,
Horrible storm,
Pounding rain,
Thunder and lightning.
The small living beings on the mountain cower,
Run into their caves,
The holes in the trees.
They hide from the storm.
Yet notice the mountain.
Whether the sun is shining or it's storming,
The mountain is solid.
The mountain is supporting all the life on it.
The mountain is regal.
The peak of the mountain reaches up towards the highest points in the sky.
And the roots of the mountain dig deep into the earth.
The mountain is just the mountain.
On a cloudy day,
The mountain is the mountain.
On a sunny day,
The mountain is the mountain.
The mountain does not differentiate.
So as you are really bringing the picture of this mountain to mind,
I'd like you to bring it inside.
Feel your body as that mountain.
Feel yourself as a mountain,
As the beautiful mountain.
Feel your head reaching up to the highest clouds.
Feel your roots going deep into the earth.
Picture nighttime.
It's nighttime and you are the mountain.
Some of the beings that live on the mountain are quiet.
Some are active.
You the mountain.
You're the same.
Now let's picture the sun rising in the east.
Its rays are coming up over the horizon and beginning to touch you,
The mountain.
Really feel yourself as the mountain.
The rays of light go across your surface.
As the sun rises,
Some of the beings that live on you go to sleep and many others wake up.
The birds start singing with the sun.
The leaves perk up,
Reaching towards that sun.
Every moment on the surface of the mountain,
Things are changing,
Shifting,
Yet you are the mountain.
Your stability and groundedness supports all this teeming life on the outside.
And the sun keeps rising,
Getting stronger and stronger.
And soon the heat of the day,
Of the midday sun,
Is above you.
You can feel that sun.
Yet you remain the mountain.
And now the sun is beginning to move into the afternoon,
Lowering itself in the sky,
Shifting to your other side.
And you can feel how this changes everything around you,
But not you,
You're the mountain.
Different parts of your surface are lit up as the sun begins to set,
Gets lower and lower in the sky.
Everything around you continues to shift,
But you feel the solidity and groundedness of the mountain.
There's a beautiful sunset to your west.
And the sky begins to fall into darkness,
Yet you,
The mountain,
Stay the same.
The sky becomes darker and darker and stars are beginning to come out.
And all the life around you shifts and changes.
Every moment is different.
I'm going to pause and give you a little time to really feel yourself as this mountain.
If at any point you lose the sense of feeling like the mountain,
Bring to mind the picture you started with of the beautiful mountain and bring it inside.
Allow yourself to be that beautiful mountain.
And now take a moment and imagine a storm around you.
The sky darkens,
Thunder,
Rain begins to pound down.
Feel yourself as the mountain.
You,
The mountain,
Are okay.
Really bring to mind picturing being the mountain during a storm.
Now remaining as the mountain,
Picture whatever season you would like to picture,
Picture whatever weather,
Whatever time of day,
And picture yourself as that mountain.
And as you do this,
Take a moment and really feel the groundedness of yourself as the mountain.
Feel the internal stillness.
Feel the internal peace and equanimity.
Feel the acceptance of the seasons,
The acceptance of the changes in life,
The continual changes on the mountain surface,
Yet the majesty and regal quality of the mountain stays the same.
Let's take another moment to really breathe in the quality of the mountain,
The groundedness of the base,
Your head as the lofty peak.
Notice that the mountain doesn't take any of these changes personally.
The mountain doesn't think of one weather pattern as lucky or unlucky.
The mountain doesn't feel personally assaulted,
Just knows.
The mountain knows when there's a storm,
When there's a sunrise,
A sunset,
Snow.
Feel yourself as that mountain with the weather of your own life,
With the sense that there are good times,
There are bad times,
There are difficult situations,
There are different seasons.
The weather of our own lives is not to be ignored or discounted,
But to be felt and understood.
And to know at core we can access a feeling of equanimity,
Composure,
Mental calmness despite external turmoil.
And take a deep breath.
And you can return to being you sitting in your grounded position on your cushion or chair in this moment,
In the here and now.
And I wish you peace and equanimity.
