And just to have a nice and comfortable body,
This is not about torturing yourself,
It is always about finding a nice,
Peaceful state within,
And that always starts with the body being at ease.
So make sure you are nice and at ease,
Comfortable,
No pains,
And you can kind of breathe easily,
No tensions within or anything like that.
Make sure you take a lot of time at the beginning,
Just to really relax,
Really be at ease.
If you feel any tensions anywhere in the body,
If you have tightness in the muscles or tightness anywhere,
Just imagine yourself breathing in through the tightness.
This is especially true,
Of course,
For the stomach region,
But anywhere in the body.
You can imagine yourself breathing in through the tightness,
And as you breathe out,
You let go and you just relax the whole area,
The whole part of the body.
And to be able to enjoy the meditation and to really relax,
It is important not to,
It is important just to accept things the way they are,
To go with the flow of things,
And not to try to make the meditation happen.
Very often the very word meditation gets in the way,
When we think of meditation,
We think we have to do something,
But really think of it instead as just relaxation time or being at ease time,
Having a good time,
That is the best way of thinking about this.
So you can sit back,
Allow things to flow,
Just allow things to go naturally,
Not forcing it,
Not trying to do the right thing,
But just being.
One of the great things about meditation practice is just this feeling of not doing anything,
Just resting in the present,
Not actually activating the mind or anything in any way.
And you will find,
If you observe this carefully,
It is a very delightful state,
Not to have anything to do,
Just being able to relax,
Just being able to be at ease.
As you do that,
You can gradually feel the energy return to the mind,
As if you are taking a break from the world,
A holiday,
Not a fake holiday,
But a real holiday from the world around us.
And what a blessing it is in our lives to have the Buddha's teachings,
To have little groups like this who come together,
Support each other in our practice,
Both in our virtue and kindness and generosity,
But also as a support for meditation itself,
What a wonderful thing it is to have like-minded people like this in the world.
This is what makes the practice possible.
Try to see the delight and the beauty and the wonder of having good friends in the Dhamma teaching.
Okay,
Everyone,
So just take a minute just to review your meditation,
Try to understand the process,
The things that make you peaceful and calm.
