Welcome.
Let's begin by arriving.
Settle into your posture.
Bright and relaxed.
If you like,
You can leave the eyes a little open,
Resting them softly in the space ahead or let them close.
Do whatever feels natural.
And take a deep breath in slowly.
And let go.
Once more.
And all the way out.
Let the face relax.
The busy mind often shows in the forehead and around the eyes,
So let those soften first Let the brow be smooth.
Let the eyes rest.
Let the cheeks and the jaw go loose.
Let the shoulders drop.
That the arms and the hands be heavy and still.
Let the belly be soft.
The breath moving it gently.
And let the legs and feet rest heavy.
Completely supported.
And the mind.
Let it do whatever it's doing busy,
Restless,
Scattered.
For once,
There's nothing wrong with that.
Let's set an intention.
Perhaps.
May I see my thoughts clearly.
And rest in what holds them.
May that ease reach everyone I meet.
Many of us believe that meditation means stopping our thoughts.
And when they won't stop,
We decide we're doing it wrong.
So here we'll do the opposite.
We'll let them come.
When a thought appears,
Don't follow it and don't push it away,
Just know.
Plan a memory.
Conversation replaying.
Thinking.
Notice that you don't have to do anything to make thoughts appear.
They arrive on their own.
Like weather.
The meditation traditions of Tibet.
Known as Mahamudra,
Dzogchen.
Have a beautiful image for a thought that's seen clearly.
They say it's like writing on water.
Imagine tracing a word with your finger on the surface of a still pool the word disappears even as you write it.
Nothing needs to wipe it away.
The water doesn't keep it.
To when the next thought appears.
Watch it like that.
Notice it forming.
Notice it fading.
You don't need to let go of it.
It's already going.
Like writing on water.
It dissolves by itself.
Thought after thought.
Each one written.
Each one gone.
Not one of them stays.
You Now notice the little gaps.
When one thought has dissolved and the next hasn't yet appeared.
There may be a moment of open space,
However brief.
Don't try to make it longer.
Just notice it.
And it's there.
Now let your attention turn from the writing to the water.
You the awareness in which thoughts appear.
Open.
Not stained by anything written on it.
Every thought.
Bison.
Painful.
Wise or foolish.
Appears in it.
Dissolves in it.
The water remains.
Just as it was.
You don't need to find this awareness.
It's what is hearing this voice.
And knowing these thoughts is being here.
All along.
Now let the looking go too.
Just rest.
Thoughts may come and go.
At them.
Writing on water.
Nothing to follow.
Nothing.
To wipe away.
Let rest.
In silence together.
In a moment,
We'll close.
Let go.
Practice now.
Let go of the water.
And the writing.
And of the one who's watching them.
Rest for a few breaths.
Whatever remains.
Let offer.
Whatever good.
Came of this practice.
May whatever was clear hear.
And whatever was kind.
Go out to everyone I meet.
To all beings everywhere.
Whatever is true here.
Was given.
Before it was spoken.
Let the movement return.
Move gently.
Stretch if you like.
And whenever your mind is busy you don't need to stop the writing.
Just remember the water.
And thank you for practicing with me.
Go gently.
