Be The Mountain

This meditation is inspired by John Kabat Zinn's meditations. Allow the powerful imagery of a mountainous terrain, take you to a place of stillness. This empowering meditation will give you the room for contemplation and wide open spaces in the mind, much like the open sky above the mountain.

Transcript

Today we're going to do a meditation for the mountain.

This meditation helps you to be grounded,

To see things as they are,

And to let things come and go just like the mountain lets everything come and go.

So find a comfortable way to sit.

Make sure your back is straight but not stiff.

Your head held erect on your neck and shoulders.

Allow your shoulders to relax,

Your head to relax,

Your jaw and your face to relax.

If your eyes aren't closed,

Gently close them but don't squeeze them tight.

Try to see your lids relaxing,

Let your eyes just,

Let them just be.

Allow your arms to hang by your sides.

And place your hands on your knees or in your lap,

Whatever feels natural and comfortable for you.

Now bring your attention to your breathing.

Allow your mind to watch your breath without trying to control it.

Pay attention to every time you inhale and every time you exhale.

But right now,

Just let it be natural.

Allow your body to be still.

As you sit there on your cushion,

Try to embody a sense of dignity,

A sense of resolve,

A feeling of being complete,

Right now,

Right here.

In your sitting posture,

Reflecting this sense of wholeness.

As you sit here,

Try to picture in your mind a mountain.

Maybe one that you've seen with your own eyes,

Maybe even climbed.

Maybe you saw it from a far distance in a car ride or a postcard or in a TV show or film.

But choose your mountain and just try to keep that picture clear in your mind.

As you hone in on it,

Try to see the details clearer.

Does it have snow on top?

Is it a single peak or a range?

Are there trees?

What did the surrounding area look like?

Try to get clear in your mind what your mountain is.

What is the shape of its overall shape?

The lofty peak high in the sky?

The large base rooted in the rock of our earth?

And its steep or gently sloping sides?

Notice how massive it is,

How solid and unmoving,

How beautiful both from afar and up close.

As you observe it,

Notice its qualities.

And when you feel ready,

See if you can bring your mountain into your own body so that the mountain and your body are one.

Whereas you sit here,

You share in the massiveness and the stillness and serenity of the mountain.

Now that you are the mountain rooted in your sitting posture,

Your head becomes the lofty peak supported by the rest of your body,

Your shoulders and arms,

The sides of your mountain,

Your buttocks,

Your legs,

Your feet,

The strong base.

All rooted right there,

Right now,

On your cushion.

Facts in your body,

A sense of uplift from deep inside,

Helping to lift and straighten your spine.

With each breath,

As you continue sitting,

Becoming a little more of the mountain,

Unwavering in your stillness,

Completely what you are,

Beyond words and thought,

Just connected to the mountain.

You are the mountain.

A centered,

Rooted,

Unmoving presence.

Taking these minutes,

Listen to what we want you to recall.

As you sit here,

Become aware of the fact that as the sun moves across the sky,

The rays of light and shadows of the clouds and colors are always changing.

As the earth turns day by day,

Year by year,

Millennia by millennia,

Night follows day.

And as the sun rises,

When night is over,

The rays of light again warm your mountain.

Through it all,

The mountain just sits,

Experiencing the change around it moment by moment.

But the mountain always is itself.

It remains still as the seasons flow into one another,

As the weather changes moment by moment and day by day.

Morning,

Noon,

Night,

Sun,

Rain,

Snow,

Calmness abiding in all change.

Morning,

Noon,

Sun,

Rain,

Snow,

Calmness abiding in all change.

In summer,

There isn't any snow on the mountain,

Except perhaps for the very high peaks.

And in the fall,

Your mountain may wear a coat of brilliant fire colors.

In winter,

Snow and ice.

And in any season,

The mountain may find itself shrouded in a layer of clouds or fog or covered with hail and freezing rain.

Tourists may come to see the mountain and say how beautiful it is.

Or maybe today is not such a good day to see the mountain,

The clouds are in the way.

But none of this matters to the mountain,

Which remains at all times its essential self.

Clouds come and go,

But the mountain sits,

Calmness abiding.

Seen or unseen,

Sun or clouds,

Broiling or frigid,

Night or day,

The mountain just sits being itself.

Sometimes visited by terrible violent storms and buffeted by snow and rain and winds of unthinkable magnitude.

But through it all,

Your mountain continues to sit,

Unfazed by the weather,

By what happens on the surface,

By the world of appearances,

Calmness abiding.

And as we sit on our cushion in meditation,

We can take into our practice the experience of the mountain.

Embodying the same unwavering stillness,

Rootedness in the face of everything that changes in our own lives,

Over seconds,

Hours or days,

Even years.

Calmness abiding.

In our meditation practice as in our lives,

We always experience the changing nature of mind and body,

Inside us and in the outer world.

All of us have our own periods of light and dark,

Our moments of color and joy,

Our moments of drabness and sadness.

Certainly we experience storms of varying intensity and violence in the outer world,

As well as in our own minds and bodies.

We endure periods of darkness and pain,

As well as moments of joy and happiness.

Even our appearance changes constantly.

We experience somewhat of a weather of our own.

By becoming the mountain in our practice,

We can connect with its strength and stability and make it our own.

We can use this energy to support our own energy and encounter each moment with mindfulness,

Equanimity and clarity.

It may be helpful to see that our own thoughts and feelings,

Our emotional storms and crises,

Even the things that happen to us,

Are very much how the mountain experiences weather.

Calmness abiding.

That's the goal.

Our minds tend to take it all personally,

But its most important characteristic is impersonal.

In our own lives,

Our weather is not to be ignored or denied,

But encountered,

Felt,

Known and honored for what it is as we hold it in awareness.

And when we hold it in this way,

We can come to know a deeper silence and stillness and wisdom.

Our mountain has this to teach us and much,

Much more if we can come to listen.

When you feel ready,

Let your mountain be and slowly open your eyes.

And thank you for sitting with me today.

Reviews

Wonderful! Thank you🙏

One of my most favorite meditations.

Beautiful grounding guidance.
Thank you!

Oh so perfect! Thank you for sharing your talents!

That was great so very stabilizing very insightful. Thank you.

Very effective and much needed. Excellent speaking voice with lots of space to just be.

Thank you -this was what I needed today😊

Thoroughly enjoyted

That was wonderful. Thought provoking yet mind settling. Thank you 🙏

This provides great grounding and reassurance. Thank you!

Balancing and helpful to clear, enabling insight. A message I’ll return to again.

Fantastic balance of power and

Very useful imagery - thank you 🙏🏻

Beautiful! So much of what I needed today. Thank you!!!🙏🏽🙏🏽

Amazing and powerful meditation... Thank you, thank you.

Very nice! Thanks!

Powerful Meditation. Great Pace & Clear Voice. Thank You 🙏🏾 🙏🏾 Wonderful Reflection.

I will return to this meditation frequently. Thankful for I am the mountain.