Welcome to the Inner Sanctuary podcast,
A space to return,
Again and again,
To what is here,
Just as it is.
I'm Keiko.
With over 20 years of Zen practice,
I'm honored to guide this community in practicing Sono Mama,
Sitting rooted in Zen teachings.
Sono Mama,
Which means as it is in Japanese,
Encapsulates the ultimate message of Zen,
To be present in the current moment.
In this practice,
We embrace the present state,
Recognizing that all there is,
Is the way it is now.
Today,
I want to explore a simple yet radical truth.
Now is all there is.
Everything else is a movement of the mind.
In the world of phenomena,
Things appear to unfold on a timeline,
Past,
Present,
Future.
We live in the story of becoming,
That we are headed somewhere,
That something we will be better someday,
But in reality,
There is only now,
This moment.
There has never been anything else,
And even this now.
Can we really grasp it?
The moment we try,
It's already past.
It's magical,
Isn't it?
What we seek is not far away.
It's not hidden in the future.
It's right under our feet,
Here and now.
But the momentum of time,
The pull to move forward,
Seems to dominate us.
We think we need to fix,
Improve,
Transform.
We believe something is missing,
And this belief hurts.
It hurts even more when we think it's wrong to feel discomfort.
But here's the truth.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
And physical sensations,
No matter how unpleasant,
Will naturally fade if left alone.
Still,
We struggle to let them be.
Self-help methods often say,
Let it go,
Change your thinking,
Fix the problem.
But that can lead us in the opposite direction,
Farther from peace,
Deeper into suffering.
I'm not saying that growth is wrong,
But we must notice the trap.
The subtle belief that I am not enough as I am,
That something needs to be better,
That this is not it.
When you fall into that trap,
The mind becomes a problem-making machine,
Always seeking,
Never arriving.
So stop.
Not to freeze or give up,
But to feel what is here.
Look closely,
Without judgment.
What's happening right now?
Eventually,
You will begin to see.
Good and bad are just mental labels.
Things are simply happening.
When we try only to experience what we like,
We inevitably pull in what we don't.
The pendulum swings both ways.
The key is not to change your perspective,
But to stop categorizing altogether.
And when you do,
You start to see clearly.
So I invite you now,
Loosen your body,
Soften your mind.
Let it all be.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
And physical sensations will come and go on their own.
There is no need to deny or fix anything.
You don't need to let go.
Because you are only imagining that you are holding on.
Just sit with it.
Just breathe.
Sono mama.
In Japanese,
It means,
As it is.
Let things be.
They will change.
They will disappear.
And you.
You are already whole.
Thank you for listening.
Until next time,
Stay with what is.
Stay sono mama.
