Hi,
This is Alexis.
I am so glad you're here.
At the moment,
With the current world circumstances,
It can be difficult to see how it is possible to create peace within our families,
Peace within our communities,
Peace within our country,
And ultimately peace within our world.
Mindfulness and meditation as an ancient wisdom offers us a way to discover the peace within our own hearts first.
Jack Kornfield,
A trained Buddhist monk who holds a PhD in clinical psychology and is a founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Meditation Center,
Shared a story that touches on this.
He shares,
In the midst of the Lao Cambodian and Vietnam War,
Ajahn Chah's monastery was an island of peace,
Not far from the borders of these war-torn countries.
It stood as a reminder to all that the origin of war is in the human heart.
When we act out of fear and hatred,
Out of pain and ignorance,
We not only harm others,
We harm ourselves.
It is in the heart where we all must learn to stop the war.
I'd like to offer you a meditation technique called the Eye of the Hurricane to learn how to stop the chaos,
War,
And turmoil in the heart.
This practice is inspired by the ancient practice of equanimity,
Or upekka.
Equanimity is a balanced mind that remains tranquil and steady no matter what we encounter.
It is not apathetic indifference,
Which builds walls to protect us from pain.
Instead,
Equanimity practice allows our meditation practice to stay on track so that one may remain open,
Compassionate,
And loving,
And kind under difficult circumstances.
At this time,
I'd like for you to find a comfortable meditation position,
Either sitting on a cushion on the floor or on a chair.
Allow yourself to sit tall with your back straight and your shoulders relaxed.
Let your hands rest easy into your lap and then gently close down the eyes.
Take three deep,
Slow breaths here to begin as a way to calm your body and relax your mind.
Become aware of your body sitting here.
You might tune in to the sense of contact between your body and the seat beneath you,
Noticing the touch of the air on your skin,
Or even the weight of your clothing as it rests on your body.
Tuning in to the sounds that are around you,
Noticing sounds that are pleasant and unpleasant,
Sounds that are close and sounds that are far away.
And now let's for a moment consider a metaphor.
Within the strong,
Turbulent winds of a hurricane,
The center or the eye of the hurricane is quiet.
There is no wind and no movement there,
Just peace and calm.
In your mind's eye,
I'd like for you to picture this idea.
Visualize the strong and turbulent winds of a hurricane.
Perhaps it's an image of one that you've seen on the television or a picture in a book.
It may even be an experience that you've had yourself or a story that a family member or friend has shared.
Picturing the strong and turbulent winds,
Seeing the ways in which palm trees can bend almost horizontally.
The wind is carrying the rain in all different directions,
And the water levels seem to be rising rapidly.
Now as this image of a chaotic hurricane scene becomes more clear,
I'd like for you to also notice an inner core,
A space at the center of the hurricane that is peaceful and quiet.
There are no winds,
No rain,
No water.
Perhaps it is even filled with sunshine.
The trees are standing vertically,
The leaves are barely rustling.
The center of your hurricane might be in color,
Whereas the turbulent,
Chaotic part of the hurricane is in black and white.
And now let's see if you can become like the center of the hurricane.
I'd like for you to consider your current life circumstances.
These might be your thoughts,
Your feelings,
The sensations throughout your body.
All of this can be compared to the winds of a hurricane.
Is it possible for you to let go of all of these things for a moment,
So that you are no longer taking part in them?
Like the center of the hurricane is not taking part in the turbulent surrounding winds.
To do this,
You're going to start by focusing on your breath.
Simply breathing in and breathing out allows for you to focus inwardly.
Turning inward and tuning in to your beautiful breathing now.
Just like the eye is deep within the hurricane,
Your eye on your breathing is deep within you.
This is a way to use your breath to connect to this part of you.
Centered,
Quiet self.
Staying connected to your breath here by simply noticing the in-breath followed by the out-breath.
Breathing in,
Know that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Relaxing your body.
As you're focusing on your breathing,
You might notice distractions.
These might come in the form of stressful thoughts like anxiety or worry.
Perhaps bodily sensations like hunger or pain or discomfort.
It might also be annoying sounds or the memory of a difficult life event or current event.
Try to look at these as if they are the turbulent winds of the hurricane.
All of these things are whirling around,
Continually changing and unpredictable in nature.
You can choose to notice that you are not them.
You are the silent center of the hurricane.
The part that is peaceful despite what is happening around you.
You are not reacting.
You are simply observing all of these distractions as just moving and passing events,
Just like the winds of a hurricane.
And as you are breathing,
Notice how you move more and more towards the center of the hurricane,
Towards the eye.
You are stable.
You are not moving or being carried away,
Just like the turbulent wind of the hurricane.
Your thoughts,
Your feelings,
And whatever is happening outside yourself is still going on,
But you are no longer taking part of it.
You are in a safe,
Peaceful place.
Just breathing.
Stay in the eye,
Watching thoughts,
Noticing feelings,
Noticing sensations,
Continuing to watch the ever-changing nature of the world inside and outside of you.
It's as if you are watching from a distance with curiosity and without judgment,
Without reacting to what you see.
No matter how intense or bad the hurricane gets,
The eye is always centered,
Always calm,
Always at ease.
It can be helpful to remember that even the most turbulent hurricane cannot hurt or harm the eye.
The eye is always safe.
Whenever you feel you need to restore your inner peace,
You can come back to your breath over and over again to connect to this silent part of yourself.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Relaxing your body.
At times when we are practicing the eye of the hurricane meditation,
We can be met with resistance.
There might be thoughts like,
This is too hard,
Too upset,
Or I don't think I can do this.
That is completely normal.
I don't think I can do this.
That is completely normal.
And it is a common experience during meditation.
And so you can look at it that way.
You can look at it as part of your experience when practicing the eye of the hurricane.
And then you can remind yourself that whatever is there is perfectly okay,
Just the way it is.
And then allow those thoughts to be swept up in the hurricane too.
Coming back to your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now there are times where it can be difficult to see the eye of the hurricane.
And sometimes we forget the eye is even there at all.
However,
It's always there.
That quiet,
Peaceful place inside is always available to you.
If we examine closely enough,
Even the strongest,
Darkest hurricane,
Sooner or later,
We'll see the eye centered and constant,
Available and ready and waiting for us to sit and just breathe.
Now,
When you feel ready,
Slowly begin to open up your eyes,
Taking in the space around you.
You might take a moment to move in ways that feel good in your body,
Perhaps wiggling fingers and toes or stretching the arms up.
Take a moment to tune in to how you're feeling now.
You might do reflect on what it was like to connect to the observing self.
And now I'd like for you to bring your palms together in front of your heart in Anjali Mudra.
Anjali means peace and Mudra means hand gesture.
May you be at peace in your heart.
Namaste.
