Joy Of Being: Body, Speech And Mind

This practice of joy is directed towards our basic goodness, which we explore through the lenses of our body, speech, mind, qualities and activities. Taking turns to focus on each of these components of our being, we recognize their deeply meaningful nature – and our ability to simply be joyful about existing, as we direct our life to greater compassion and wisdom.

Transcript

In order to begin the practice of empathetic joy focused on our own basic goodness,

First bring your awareness down into the body towards all the different tactile sensations arising in the body,

Especially the sensations associated with the earth element,

The experience of stability,

Firmness,

And confidence in the ground that holds us,

Relaxing into those experiences,

Mindfully observing them,

And gradually letting go of tension.

Breathing naturally,

Without any specific breathing technique,

Not trying to control our breath,

But allowing the body to choose its own rhythm,

Pace,

Depth,

Allowing the body to explore the breathing and transform it in any way necessary,

Leaving our mind in a state of spacious awareness and generating a positive motivation for this practice,

Exploring our own highest aspirations,

Such as the aspiration for completely transforming our mind in order to be of greatest benefit to others,

As well as any short-term aspirations that we might have right now.

Why am I practicing?

Bringing in clarity with that.

And then with that foundation of relaxation and a clear motivation,

In order to begin the practice of empathetic joy towards ourselves,

We bring our awareness to our own body.

Body as a presence.

Body as a whole bandwidth of different experiences that we have,

Not specifically something limited in its shape and its abilities,

But this whole range of experiences that we have in the material realm,

Recognizing that we do have a body and that this body,

Yes,

Can be sometimes a source of pain,

Yes,

Can be used for negative actions that harm ourselves and others.

We recognize that,

But at the same time recognize the fact that this body is a great source of joy,

Pleasant experiences,

And virtuous actions,

Actions that benefit ourselves and others in the long run.

Actions coming from loving-kindness and compassion,

From wisdom.

All of this is the potential of this very body,

This very range of experiences,

This bandwidth of energy that we possess.

This is its incredible potential.

What a joy,

How wonderful.

Attending to the body,

We generate this joy about its ability to bring forth joy,

Pleasure,

Happiness,

And virtue.

What a joy,

How wonderful.

Simply relaxing into this joy,

Into this joyous experience of having a body that can be used for good.

And then bringing our awareness to our speech,

Our ability to communicate using our voice,

Our words,

Our ability to sing,

And even our ability to type,

Write,

Use any sort of written communication.

Indeed,

Our speech as well can be a great source of problems,

Pain,

Unpleasant experiences,

Suffering that we bring to ourselves and to others.

But at the same time,

What a joy it is to have speech,

To be able to communicate in whatever form that's available to us.

What a joy to be able to use our speech to bring greater happiness,

Fulfillment,

And understanding to ourselves and others.

This variability to communicate can be a great source of happiness,

A great tool of compassion and wisdom.

What a joy.

Relaxing into this experience of joy about our speech,

Having access to communication.

What a joy.

How wonderful.

How wonderful it is to possess this potential of beneficial speech.

How wonderful it is to grow speaking skills and dough.

And then bringing our awareness to our mind,

The moving mind,

The mind that generates emotions,

Thoughts,

Memories,

Images,

Desires,

Intentions,

This whole bandwidth of moving energy that we habitually associate with ourselves,

And that can indeed bring many problems,

Be a source of fear,

Anxiety,

Anguish,

And at the same time can be an incredible source of joy,

Happiness,

A great tool of compassion,

Something greatly meaningful if we choose so,

If we use this incredible potential for good,

If we use this moving mind in order to bring greater happiness to ourselves and others through uncovering our greatest potential,

Our wisdom and compassion.

What a joy to have this,

To have this moving mind that can be used for good.

How wonderful.

Relaxing into this joy of having a mind that has this incredible potential.

What a joy.

How wonderful.

And then recognizing that in addition to this moving mind that manifests as thoughts,

Emotions,

Images,

Memories,

And so forth,

We also have our very ability to be aware,

Our awareness,

Our cognizance,

This basic and indestructible quality of our mind,

Of our consciousness,

The ability to be aware.

Knowing full well that this awareness doesn't have to be fused with any of our experiences,

Knowing that it can be liberated,

And knowing that this awareness can be in tune with the interdependence of things.

It can be undiluted.

And when it is undiluted,

When it is in tune,

In sync with the nature of reality that is interdependent,

This awareness becomes a great source of different wonderful qualities,

Qualities of love,

Compassion,

Joy,

Equanimity,

Wisdom,

Generosity,

Patience,

And so forth.

All of these are in the very nature of our awareness,

Already potentially present.

So what a joy it is to be aware,

To know.

What a joy it is to have this potential for liberation,

Freedom,

Genuine peace,

And genuine skill in action.

Recognizing that skillful,

Compassionate action comes forth from these qualities of awareness that is undiluted,

That is in touch with reality.

So what a joy it is to have a body as this whole bandwidth of experiences and abilities.

What a joy it is to have our speech,

Our ability to communicate in different ways.

What a joy it is to have our mind.

Our moving mind and our awareness.

What a joy it is that out of this awareness come these beautiful qualities that are in touch with the nature of reality.

What a joy it is that these qualities can manifest as skillful action that benefits others and ourselves.

Genuine compassionate activity.

Using all of this,

We abide in this joy of being.

Breathing naturally and going deeper and deeper into this joy with each in-breath and out-breath,

While at the same time letting go of our cynicism,

Our skepticism about existence,

Our habit of judging ourselves and others,

Going deeper into this peaceful and relaxed joy of being.

Whether it manifests as genuine rapture or just a few moments of peace,

All of these experiences are perfectly valid.

So we relax into them,

Breathing,

Being aware,

And being grateful for the very fact of our existence,

For having all of these components that we habitually label as myself,

As me.

Letting go of all these thoughts and emotions,

We bring our awareness back to the tactile sensations,

The living experience of our body here and now.

Simply noticing them,

Grounding ourselves,

And then rejoicing in all the effort that we have made in this practice,

And mentally dedicating all of this effort towards our highest aspirations,

Everything that we envision as the highest good for ourselves and others.

Getting ready to bring this quality of joy back into our daily life when the bell signifies the end of this practice.

Reviews

Beautiful guidance throughout a deep understanding and practice of joy. I en-joy-ed that deeply. Thank you 🙏🏻.

Joy of living!

22 minutes of positive energy and empowerment…ThankyouandBless 🧸

Thank you for helping me connect with the joy of being

Grounding, reassuring and genuine. A meditation brimming with reminders of why we practice. Thank you.

Thank you so much 💕 it helped me a lot, god bless you 🙏🏼💛🍀🌠

I found this very clear and simple, and at the same time very deep. Wonderful!

I’ll listen again and again.

Wonderful experience. Truly inspiring.

I dropped right in with this peaceful, wise meditation. Grateful.

I really appreciate this practice, especially your description of the bandwidth of the moving mind as opposed to the aware mind. Thank you 🙏🏼

Simple, positive and peaceful. Lovely. Thank you 💜

Profoundly beautiful, touched me in a fresh way🙏🏻

So profound I have yet to be able to put into words the understanding created by them. Thank you ❤️

This was so simply shared yet so profound for me this morning. Such a unique and deeply beautiful way to state the truths of our human existence. Many thanks!🙏🏼

Very empowering meditation thank you
A lot of wisdom to take away think about and work with

What a gift! I’ve used this meditation to support my end of the day gratitude practice and as a morning jumpstart to cultivate joy. The pacing and clear supportive language of this guided meditation allowed me to openly connect with a deep sense of self-compassion that often gets buried after a day of doubt and work. This is the kind of practice I’ve been craving. Thank you for helping me to develop my mind toward sustaining joy!

Thanks for this one!I believe it's the type of meditation that is quite hard to come across here. It helped me to shift my attention from habitually focusing on my limitations and downfalls to the always present potential for joy and happiness. And not just hedonia but for eudaemonia.