When we are sitting in meditation,
We can find back the unity of our existence.
In reality,
We are never separated from this reality,
This living reality of the present moment.
However,
In the relative world of conditioning,
The world that we live in,
That we experience in daily life,
The ego creates separation.
Our mental processes constantly stand in the way of experiencing this unity,
This non-separateness.
Our mind dwells mostly in things that have happened in the past,
Triggering all kinds of emotions that we ruminate,
We repeat,
Creating all kinds of undesirable mental and emotional states,
Creating sometimes moods of sadness,
Even despair.
Or in the future,
Where we don't know anything about,
Yet may sometimes be anxious about.
And by doing so,
We lose completely our hope,
And often also aspiration.
By becoming fully aware in the posture,
That means aware of our body posture,
And focused on the rhythm of the breathing,
We can come back to this unity of this living reality right here,
In this body,
Right now,
In this breath.
Here and now,
We can realize that we're actually not short of anything,
That there is sufficiency.
Also right here,
Right now.
We can observe how this mind,
That jumps in all directions,
And projects itself in the future,
And in the past,
How this mind functions.
We can see the impermanent nature of all these thoughts,
All these mental processes,
That are constantly changing,
Coming out of nowhere,
And going back to nowhere.
Being mindful of the present moment,
Helps us in letting go of these attachments of the ego,
To things yet to come,
Or things long passed away.
And cultivate a compassionate understanding of the human condition.
When observing the impermanence,
We develop more equanimity,
And resilience.
A helpful exercise in this,
Is the contemplation of the five remembrances of impermanence,
Which were initially the starting point of the quest,
The spiritual quest of Buddha Shakyamuni.
It is to remember that our nature is to grow old.
There is no escape to that.
That it is our nature to have ill health,
To fall sick.
There is no escape to that.
That it is our nature to die.
There is no escape to that.
To remember that all that is dear to me,
And everyone I love,
Are of the same nature of change.
We are never separate.
When we deeply contemplate this nature of reality,
Of constant change,
Of the impermanence that of everything that is,
Then we become more conscious about our actions.
That we own these actions.
That we live dependent on these actions.
That we are ahead to our actions.
And that we inherit the results of former actions,
And that we will inherit the results of our current actions.
It's an invitation to lead a life of consciousness,
Of mindfulness,
Of letting go of attachment.
When we do so,
It liberates us from our dark emotions,
It liberates us from our cravings.
And we can develop a more equanimous mind.
A mind of no fear.
A mind that is embedded in unity,
Non-separation.
On this subject,
Master Nyojo,
The master of Master Togen,
The Chinese Tiantong Rujing,
Wrote a poem stating,
The whole body is like a wind chime,
Hanging in empty space.
Not daring which way the wind blows,
East,
West,
South or north.
This tongue equally speaks wisdom.
