Sometimes there can be a gap between what you know to be true and what you believe to be true.
You can think of examples of this for yourself,
What you know to be true,
But you don't always act in accordance with what you know.
It's been said that wisdom is the ability to take your own advice.
And when you don't take your own advice in this way,
There probably is a gap.
Between what you know to be true,
Maybe intellectually.
And what you really,
Or at least a part of you,
Really believes to be true or feels to be true.
And I think a common example of this.
Is the importance of rest and the importance of silence.
And I would guess you probably know that it's good to have rest and silence and that that will actually enhance the quality of all of your productivity.
If you give yourself adequate rest.
And silence.
But a part of you might not believe that it's true.
A part of you might keep pushing it off that rest and silence are things that you can give yourself after you've done enough.
But really,
You also know that rest and silence will enhance your ability to do all the things that you do.
And I can certainly say that because I experience it.
Even as a meditation person,
Spirituality guy,
I should be living this stuff all the time.
And even I also will avoid rest and silence because I'll say,
At least a part of me will say,
You don't have time for that.
There's all this stuff that you have to do.
But I know that it's true.
That rest and silence are essential.
For my highest quality productivity and efficiency of all the things that I have to do.
And want to do.
And sometimes quotes can be really helpful.
Pithy,
Memorable quotes can be helpful to bring what you know down into what you believe and feel.
And so here's one of my favorite quotes.
It comes from Thich Nhat Hanh.
And it goes like this.
Being is the ground for doing.
And the quality of your doing is informed by the quality of your being.
Being is the ground for doing.
And the quality of your doing is actually informed by the quality.
Of your being.
Just a reminder that being is necessary and essential and actually is the ground upon which we do anything.
So I'd like to offer you a reminder of that and myself,
A reminder of the importance and essential nature.
Of rest and silence.
So I thought what I could offer us here is a very brief version of rest and silence.
The opportunity to just be.
For simply one minute of your whole day and of your whole life.
One minute to not do anything.
Things will still happen,
You'll still hear things,
You'll still maybe see things if your eyes are open.
You'll still certainly probably think things.
But I would just ask you to not do anything about them.
To not try to do anything.
A good piece of guidance could be allow your ears to hear whatever they want to hear.
Allow your eyes to see whatever they want to see.
Allow your body to feel whatever it wants to feel,
And even allow your mind to think whatever it wants to think.
The only guidance is to not try to do.
Anything.
That includes not trying to meditate here.
This isn't necessarily a guided meditation,
Because that can also be a form of doing,
Trying,
Efforting.
Here,
The only effort is to not be exerting any effort.
Just for one minute,
One minute of your whole day and of your whole life,
Permission to just be exactly as you are.
So I'll start the time with the sound of a singing bowl.
It's nice to have something like this to begin the time and to close the time.
And you might check in with yourself to see how you feel right now in a way that you could compare to how you feel at the end of the one minute.
Doesn't mean that you'll feel necessarily relaxed.
Maybe,
Maybe not.
It's okay,
Whatever the experience is like for you.
Just a reminder.
Being is the ground for doing and the quality of your doing is informed by the quality of your being.
So I'll play the singing bowl here.
You can take a couple deep breaths if you like.
And allow the body to relax however it might like to relax.
Here your eyes can be open or closed.
I might encourage you to allow them to just be open.
Again,
The guidance is simply.
To be exactly as you are and to allow everything to be just exactly as it is for just one minute.
And We can begin.
You
