We can take these first initial moments to be intentionally slow and quiet so as to set a tone to set up for being here in a very genuine and complete way.
Even to take a few moments to contemplate that,
To contemplate what it means to be here in a really genuine and complete way.
When I say contemplate,
I mean to call on the resources within yourself,
Besides your logical mind,
Your feeling senses,
Your energetic,
Your emotional body,
To give you a sense for what it means to be here fully,
Completely.
Because it may not mean anything that you think it means.
And the practice we'll do today is a it's an unconventional one.
It's unconventional because I've never heard it taught.
And it's unconventional because it's not in keeping with our conventional attitude in life or our conventional experience.
And so anytime we're practicing anything that is outside of the convention of egoic experience or the conventions of fear,
We're practicing something quite profound.
And the practice is simple,
As it is with many of the really simple practices,
It's also very difficult.
It's the practice of being satisfied.
The practice of resting in a state of satisfaction,
Which of course will potentially be at odds within you if in this moment you don't feel satisfied.
So in order to practice being satisfied,
There's going to have to be a way of understanding satisfaction that is bigger than what we have known.
Because I when I say practice being satisfied,
I'm not saying practice feeling satisfied.
Because feelings come and go.
Some are beautiful,
Some are horrific.
But the one law that all feelings follow is that they come and they go.
The satisfaction that I'm indicating here is something closer than what comes and goes.
In one regard,
We might call it contentment.
But I like satisfaction better.
Because when you're satisfied,
You're full.
You've eaten enough,
You can walk away from the table or the meal because you've had enough.
So that's our practice for 20-30 minutes to practice being full,
To embody being full,
To recognize that you are full.
That means that if some hunger should appear in you or some lack of some kind should appear in you that makes you feel unsatisfied.
That you can,
From a point of satisfaction,
You can examine it,
Or you can let it go,
Or you can ignore it,
Or you can feel it all the way to its core,
All the while knowing you're satisfied.
And of course,
There are many realms in which dissatisfaction takes place.
Realms of relationship,
Food,
Money,
Sex,
Power,
Knowledge,
Experience,
Status.
And you probably have your own versions that you're familiar with.
Comfort.
So for you,
There may be some particular theme around being dissatisfied,
Being dissatisfied in a specific way.
But here we are,
Practicing this satisfaction.
Practicing being full.
That doesn't mean practicing about thinking being full,
Or practicing trying to get full,
Or trying to feel full.
It means practicing being full,
Being complete.
You can,
I'm sure,
Sense how absolutely simple this is,
And what an insurmountable task it is.
Within your satisfaction,
There must be a room to include your dissatisfaction.
That we must be able to be satisfied with an experience of dissatisfaction.
So I'm not suggesting that if dissatisfaction appears in your consciousness that you neglect it,
Avoid it,
Or push it away.
That it too can be invited into this wholeness,
This completeness.
If you're witnessing yourself using mental crutches or apparatus to try to help yourself feel satisfied,
See what happens if you just set those crutches aside.
So we're not here telling ourselves a story about satisfaction,
Wholeness,
And completeness.
We're not amping ourselves up trying to believe in it.
Because underneath this affirmation of satisfaction will be a simmering of dissatisfaction.
In meditation,
We can often witness ourselves going to the many strategies,
Techniques,
Methods that we have known or learned,
Probably that have served us in some way.
But these can become a sort of hangout point,
A reference point.
And if you should meet such a familiar place in yourself,
I would just encourage you to open a little further,
To look beyond the confines of that strategy or method.
See what's happening outside of it.
You might realize that you're here with a strategy of just paying attention to your breathing,
Which is a perfectly appropriate strategy.
It's a perfectly appropriate technique.
It's a good one.
But why are you doing that?
You can see that our techniques and strategies anchor us to something that feels solid.
But I'm curious if we could be here in a state of being wildly unsolid,
To be satisfied with being unsolid.
To be here so open,
To be so open,
So available,
So unknown.
What we have come to know,
What we have gathered in the form of information,
Teaching,
Strategies,
Experiences,
Ultimately is dead and gone,
All of them.
But what's alive is now.
What's full,
What's complete is now.
You may,
Even in experiencing the taste of satisfaction,
Wonder,
Now what?
Well,
More satisfaction.
But we're not suggesting lying to ourselves.
We're not suggesting pretending that you're satisfied when you really feel that you're not.
We're not so simple-minded as that.
We have to have also the willingness and courage to state clearly within ourselves that we are not satisfied.
To then begin to see if it's possible,
If you can be satisfied with your dissatisfaction.
So this is not a lying practice.
This is not a pretending practice.
We don't have time for pretending,
We don't have time for lying.
This is not a lying practice.
This is not a pretending practice.
This is not a lying practice.
This is not a pretending practice.
This is not a lying practice.
This is not a lying practice.
In one simple sense,
This practice of being whole and complete is really just the permission to be as you really are.
The permission to be what your mind will not allow you to be.
Permission to be true.
Permission to honor that truth.
As you begin to fully or more fully accept this wholeness and completeness as yourself,
You realize what it is to be a being of integrity,
A being of impeccability,
A being of love,
A being of beauty,
Of creativity,
Of power.
You realize that as you're accepting this within yourself,
Everyone else is accepting it within themselves.
So we're also very much joined with each other.
No one is more whole or more complete.
In a short while,
I'm going to ring the bell.
When you hear it,
There's a decision you can make to continue in the state you're in,
Still and quiet,
With your eyes closed,
What have you,
Or make the decision to move and animate the body again.
But the practice of being satisfied just goes on,
Just continues.
Sophia?
