Welcome,
Friend.
Thank you so much for joining me and finding a way to your seat and to really engage in this radical act of sitting with yourself amid all the external and internal forces of your life.
The internal clamor that we face moment to moment.
It takes a lot of courage.
In this practice today,
We'll be exploring what it's like to allow all parts of ourselves to come together.
This gentle yet deliberate ongoing invitation to gather and collect the fragmented parts of ourselves until we find that sense of wholeness and centeredness within.
This is a state of being where we feel a deeper sense of being at home with ourselves,
And from here,
We gain access to a wellspring of good-natured feeling.
Feelings of care,
Of warmth,
Of kindness towards ourselves and all beings that can radiate from that gathered place within ourselves outward.
So,
Let's begin by finding a comfortable seat or position for our body and entering into it with sincere hospitality and gentleness,
Carefully tiptoeing into our inner world.
Bringing compassion to any hesitation in doing so,
And slowly feeling the support of awareness and of stillness beginning to automatically gather our attention and unify it.
Helping us to sense this experience of arriving here,
To be sitting with ourselves,
But not the same me or me-ness that we're conditioned to.
Not the same me that is continually affected by the worldly wind,
Reacting,
Fabricating,
Elaborating,
Indulging,
Avoiding,
All of those habits of our being that cause this fragmentation.
In this practice,
We're learning how to release them,
Let them go,
And to continually return to that centered place within ourselves.
So,
I invite you,
If you care to,
Let's utilize the support of the breath to locate this place within.
For many,
This centered place within ourselves is that place right between the abdomen and the ribcage around just below our sternum.
It's almost where the breath doesn't really move.
It can be felt there,
But more so like that very subtle wave of the ocean if you go deep down to the ocean bed.
And it's almost virtually still,
But you can see the creatures being moved by it.
We can feel the breath right there,
Our body being moved by it.
If that's accessible for you,
And that invitation to bring that light touch of awareness there,
And this invitation to gently encourage the mind to continue gathering there,
Settling there.
And you can feel that sense of scatteredness,
Or when you do,
It's acknowledging that without aversion,
Understanding this is a conditioning of being human and that we don't need to struggle with in the space of awareness.
Here,
We're learning to respond to it with wisdom and compassion.
And in doing so,
We're releasing our attention towards whatever is vying for our attention that's outside of the realm of connecting to this gathered place within ourselves.
This place of wholeness where all things come to rest,
And where life becomes more seemingly simple,
Simplifying our world.
With each mindful breath,
As we feel the very subtle sensations of the movement of the breath there,
The rhythm of the breath there,
The rhythm of life there,
And being mindful of any efforting or striving.
And if you're noticing this,
Because maybe it's hard to find that place and locate it,
Releasing that struggle,
And maybe allowing the sounds in the space that you're in or outside of,
Even the sound of your body breathing,
To be what holds you and gathers you.
No one object is better than the other in terms of settling our agitated minds and hearts.
So finding what works for you in this moment.
And then like hanging out with a loved one,
A dear friend,
Whom no words need to be spoken in order to feel at ease and at peace and welcome as you are,
And hang out with that object or that experience.
Coming alongside it or landing upon it lightly,
Letting our attention harmonize with the body and the breath,
Or the breath and the body,
Or the sounds in the space,
Or simply the physical space.
The physicality of our being,
Being held here in awareness,
This affectionate awareness.
And whenever the mind gets busy again,
Goes into its old habitual antics of thinking,
Planning,
Doing,
Problem-solving,
Fixing,
Imagining,
Fantasizing,
Just noticing this entanglement.
Noticing how it disconnects you from your center,
From that place of home within where all things settle.
And observing how this very simple act of awareness around the habits of our mind almost instantaneously invite our attention to reconnect to what's steady,
What's still.
What's at peace.
You might even notice that as soon as we connect to this place,
The body eases.
It no longer needs to brace itself.
There can be this kind of inner sigh,
Welcome home.
Welcome here,
Sweet one.
Gathering and settling,
Gathering and settling.
Keep arriving.
Keep welcoming.
Whether it's a wave of anxiety,
Of stress,
Of pain,
Of heartache,
Of grief,
Feeling how it's being held and cared for and processed.
With each passing moment of mindfulness,
A slight touch of awareness that unifies our attention and allows all the fragmented pieces of ourselves to come together.
To reunite.
Bringing a sense of ease,
Connectedness,
Receptivity,
Goodwill to our agitated minds and hearts and bodies.
For the final few moments of this practice,
I'd like to invite you to join me in really nurturing these wholesome qualities that come to life when we feel connected and centered,
When we feel at one with what is.
So if it's a feeling,
An emergence of peace,
Or joy,
Or gratitude,
Or appreciation,
Compassion,
Love,
Maybe forgiveness,
Whatever it is,
Just letting that be known within your inner being,
Body,
Mind,
And heart.
Maybe feeling it in a visceral sense.
It can be like a metaphorical flame on a candle,
Burning right in,
Right at the center of our being,
And then radiating that light.
Feeling it fill first our own being,
Or our entire body and being is filled with this light,
And then how it just emanates naturally without any effort in all directions.
Reaching all being in front of us,
Behind us,
To the right side of us,
The left side of us,
Above and below,
All being.
Being cared for,
Their beingness being cared for from what's generated within us,
And at the same time,
Noticing how that is supporting our being.
I'm feeling deeply cared for,
And deeply connected to something that is unwavering,
This goodness,
This thread of goodness that's unwavering.
This place of simplicity,
Where all things can simply be.
May all beings find peacefulness in their body,
Mind,
And heart.
May all beings discover the essence of true happiness,
Understanding the causes and conditions that give rise to it,
And then feeling that urge to act upon it.
May all beings be free from all forms of suffering,
So that we can live in great harmony in the rich tapestry of existence.
Thank you,
Dear friend.
Keep going.
Keep arriving.
Keep caring.
