In moments of practice,
Like we are doing together now,
Don't spoil your time ruminating on worldly matters,
For instance things like the urgency of the work at hand,
Or the stress around scarcity of resources,
Or conflicting interests and relationships.
Instead,
Let's fully focus our attention on body posture and breathing.
Nothing but this.
Let the back be straight and strong.
Let the front be soft and flexible.
To find the dynamic balance in the tonus of the muscles,
Make sure your body is well anchored,
Well grounded,
By letting the body weight press on the pillow or the seat you are sitting in,
And by letting the top of the head lean straight upward,
As if you wanted to push the sky to a higher level.
Key points in finding that dynamic balance are the forward inclination of the pelvis,
So that the body weight presses well on the perineum,
And also the position of the chin,
Which is slightly tucked in,
Without letting the head bend forward,
So that there is a strong energy in the neck,
And the top of the head automatically leans upward.
As we are continuing our practice,
At moments we may feel inadequate,
As if we don't make any progress at all with our meditation.
It may seem as if we are regressing,
Rather than progressing on the path toward liberation.
When this happens,
Please don't be discouraged,
Because it actually is a good sign.
It means we are growing in our consciousness about our illusions,
About our automatic conditioned behavioural patterns,
About the things that keep us trapped in the world of samsara,
The world we live in,
Ruled by ignorance,
Greed and hatred.
Master Dishimaru had a beautiful saying for this.
He said,
The darkness of the shadow of the pine tree depends on the clarity of the moon.
In this metaphor,
The pine tree stands for the person who meditates,
The moon symbolizes the awakened mind,
The conscious mind,
And the shadow stands for,
Well,
For our shadows,
It is our inconsistent behaviour,
The places where we lack integrity,
It stands for our obstacles on the way,
Our illusions.
In short,
Every inner situation that is not yet brought to consciousness,
The darkness of the shadow of the pine tree depends on the clarity of the moon.
The free mind is the mind that clearly sees these shadows,
But isn't disturbed by them.
The free mind rather recognizes that this is our shared human condition.
The free mind is a mind that fully embraces this human condition with an open heart,
An open heart that allows for going beyond all contradictions to find peace and joy in what is given.
What is given is to be grateful for.
From that gratitude,
With an open heart,
We can build the trust and the courage to continue practicing this moment and every moment being fully alive.
