Welcome,
My name is Aidan,
And today we'll be journeying across still water,
A voyage into calmness and clarity.
We'll travel with the guidance of an ancient compass,
The Tetrafarmagon,
The Fourfold Remedy.
The Epicureans taught these four truths as medicine for the soul.
Do not fear the gods,
Don't worry about death.
What is good is easy to obtain,
And what is terrible is easy to endure.
We will let these truths unfold slowly,
Not as abstract ideas,
But as living experiences,
Felt through the senses,
Absorbed into the heart.
So find a place where you can be still,
Sitting or lying down,
And allow your hands to rest easily,
Your jaw to unclench,
And your shoulders to loosen.
And we'll begin.
Close your eyes,
Let your breathing find its own rhythm,
You don't need to force it,
Only notice it,
The air entering and leaving.
As you inhale,
Imagine the breath filling your body like water into a calm pool.
As you exhale,
Feel tension dissolve,
Flowing out and away.
Now,
Bring your attention to the crown of your head,
Feel the skin there,
The air around it.
Slowly,
Move your awareness down,
Over your forehead,
Your closed eyes,
Your cheeks and jaw,
Down the neck and shoulders,
Softening as you go.
Continue downward,
Up,
Notice the weight of them resting,
Notice the temperature of the air against your skin.
Bring your awareness now to your chest,
Your breathing,
Your heartbeat,
Let your attention sink further into the stomach.
Your whole body is here,
Present,
Resting,
Supported.
Now,
In your mind's eye,
Picture yourself in a small wooden boat,
It drifts upon a calm,
Calm ocean,
The waves lift and lower you in a slow,
Easy rhythm,
Almost like the rise and fall of your own breath.
The air is fresh with the scent of salt and open water.
The sound of gentle waves is all around you,
The wood beneath you is warm from the sun.
Here there is no rush,
No demands,
Only the steady companionship of the sea and the sky.
Above you is an endless dome of sky,
Blue and clear by day,
Deep and filled with stars by night.
The sun moves without your asking,
The wind arrives and departs in its own time,
The tides shift,
The moon waxes and wanes,
All without judgement or malice.
The forces that move the world are not enemies to you,
They are not watching to punish or reward,
They move according to their nature,
Just as the sea moves in waves.
Feel how this sky shelters you,
Feel how the same sun warms the ocean,
The same wind fills your sail,
The same moon lights your path.
You are part of this pattern,
Carried by the same law that stirs the tides and guides the stars.
Imagine any fear you've carried,
Fear of fate,
Of unseen powers dissolving into the sky above.
There is nothing here to threaten you,
Only vastness and a harmony you belong to.
Far ahead,
The horizon draws a perfect line where the sea meets the sky.
You cannot see what lies beyond it,
But it does not frighten you,
It is simply the place where your vision ends.
Beyond that line will come the end of your voyage here,
As it comes for all sailors,
But it will be nothing to you.
Where you are,
Life is,
Where death is,
You are not.
Feel the boards beneath your feet,
The warm sun on your skin,
The slow rhythm of the swell.
This,
Here and now,
Is life.
Let the horizon simply be a distant place,
It will arrive when it arrives.
Until then,
The sea between here and there is entirely yours to sail.
Look around your boat,
You have fresh water,
A small loaf of bread,
A folded blanket,
The warmth of the sun,
The cool of the breeze.
The sea offers beauty without price,
The simplest things bring the greatest ease.
The good in life is not far away,
It is here,
Already present.
You realise that your needs are few,
And most of them are met.
Your peace and contentment do not depend on distant shores or treasures out of reach.
They live in moments like this,
In the calm rocking of the waves,
In the breath you take now.
Storms may come,
The sky may darken,
The wind may rise,
The water may grow rough.
But storms pass,
As they always have.
Pain comes in two kinds,
Sharp and brief,
Or mild and lasting.
The sharp ones pass quickly,
The lasting ones become something you can carry.
Even in the middle of the storm,
There are pauses between the waves,
Moments to steady yourself.
You have sailed through hardship before,
And you will again.
Your boat was built to ride the water,
You were built to endure this voyage.
Now the storm clouds drift away,
The sky clears,
The sea smooths into glass.
Above,
The same stars that guided travellers for centuries shine,
Fixed points in the vastness.
You carry their quiet certainty with you now.
The fourfold remedy is not only wisdom for the mind,
It is a compass for the heart.
A guide you can hold in any weather,
Through any tide.
Your boat drifts gently toward the shore,
The water grows shallow,
The sand beneath you becomes visible,
The keel touches land,
You step out,
Barefoot on warm sand.
The tide's rhythm behind you is a steady heartbeat.
You know you can return to this sea in your mind at any time.
To the calm horizon,
The quiet stars,
And the compass of these four truths.
Bring your awareness back to your body.
Feel the ground beneath you.
Take a deeper breath.
Begin to move your fingers and toes.
And when you are ready,
Open your eyes.
You return to the day,
Steady,
Capable,
And ready for whatever waters lie ahead.
