There is a soul craving many of us are parched for.
We yearn to rest in the place of equanimity within us,
Coming home to the self,
Resting in an inner love that radiates within us despite any challenges we face.
A simple kindness that permeates into our language and the way that we touch others.
This kindness requires an intimate,
Felt knowing of that place within us.
This is where clarity enters and shines into all the ways we interrelate and structure our lives.
This clarity comes from knowing the self so purely and intimately that we can speak more easily without tangled expectations.
This knowing guides us to place our attention and actions where we feel would be fruitful and where we genuinely feel we must show up in life,
Undoubtedly.
The Buddha taught of a mental path,
To avoid the two extremes of self-indulgence or self-denial.
After he had been born into a royal family and delved into the pleasures available,
He left that lifestyle in search of overcoming the attachment to pleasure and comfort and began studying with yogis who lived in the forests and practicing advanced asceticism by denying his body food and comfort.
And after nearly dying of starvation and accepting a bowl of rice milk from a girl in the village,
He then had a realization that practicing extreme austerities would not lead to a spiritual awakening.
With this realization,
He entered into a deep state of meditation that led to his awakening and this concept of the middle path which became the underlying principle,
The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism.
Advaita Vedanta follows a similar belief and is outlined that to realize the self,
Called moksha,
Is when you stop reacting to the environment and your mind abides in peace,
Equanimity.
In its full form,
This is a thoughtless state.
However what we will look at today is the concept of equanimity and the middle path that pervades both teachings.
Let us begin by soaking in this poem from Kahlil Gibran.
For even as love crowns you,
So shall love crucify you.
Even as love is for your growth,
So is love for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
We will begin a practice now to observe and contemplate this felt sense of observation,
Equanimity and non-duality.
So adjusting yourself to sit up straight and tall if you are not already.
Close the sitz bones into the chair or floor beneath you and rise out of the lower back.
Lengthen through the mid back,
Rolling the shoulders back and down away from the ears.
And rising the top of the head towards the sky and lengthening through the back of the neck.
Take a moment here to tune into the subtle pace of your natural breath,
Greeting this intimacy of observing the dance of life through your breath.
Begin to deepen your inhalation and exhalation.
Breathing in and out through the nose,
Begin to remove the pause between each part of the breath.
Let the inhalation and exhalation blend into a seamless and unbroken breath.
Letting the rise and fall blend into one.
No pause between breaths.
Giving yourself over to this fluid movement.
And just focus on this unification of inhales and exhales.
Observe this seamless breath.
And while watching this breath,
Notice yourself observing.
Or if you can open to a place of equanimous observation.
No attachment to either part of the breath.
No pausing or retention between inhalation and exhalation.
And at any time that you notice preference,
Thought,
Or interpretation coming in,
Gently guide your awareness back to the place of non-judgmental,
Non-attached observation.
Namaste.
Allow your breath to return to its normal pace.
As we have touched and expanded our awareness of this place of observation,
Equanimity,
And non-duality,
Let us move into a beautiful practice that was originally shared by Ram Das.
Take a moment to rest in this place of peace inside,
Where everything is alright.
This contentment that's unshakable.
A felt sense of knowing that everything is perfect.
Everything is happening just as it should.
There's nothing to resist or change,
But more and more unraveling permission to blissfully soften into exactly what is,
To continue realizing exactly what is here.
This consciousness,
This being,
This contentment.
And begin to take your awareness and expand it to observe the past day,
Whether it is evening time and you're contemplating the day today,
Or morning time and you bring your awareness back to yesterday.
Just begin to scan your day and notice any strong emotions that peek through.
These may be labeled positive or negative,
Such as joy,
Anger,
Anxiety,
Depression,
Excitement.
And when you find one that sticks out to you,
Sit with it for a moment.
Observe the feelings you have here,
The sensations.
And begin to take your awareness back to this equanimous place within you of peace and contentment.
And remembrance.
And bring this experience with you back into this place of presence.
Observing it with these eyes of higher knowing.
Your connection to the consistent relaxation and beingness beyond the mind or interpretations.
And come back to that situation or instance again.
Notice how it feels now.
Just sit with it,
The whole human spectrum it brings.
And then bring it with you back to this equanimous place of your soul.
And begin digesting it,
Sort of weaving it back into your soul,
Into the place where everything is alright.
Where there are no highs or lows,
It just is.
And it's alright.
There's no need to interpret or to become stuck in this experience.
And begin to shift back and forth from this equanimous state to the place of intense emotion.
And as you do so,
Weaving it into this place of non-judgmental content being.
Digesting a layer of this experience in the belly of the soul each time you come back.
Letting all of these pieces of you come into the soul.
Come into this place of content soul existence.
This being.
This being.
This being.
And once you feel you've digested this experience,
Which may take many more times,
There is no rush,
Or it may already feel woven into your being.
You can move back onto scanning the rest of your day and noticing any other experience that sticks out and pausing to weave this one in.
Let's go on with this meditation for another 5 minutes on our own pace.
And wherever you are at digesting,
You can give yourself permission to let go for now.
And you can return to this practice before going to bed each night.
Using each experience and emotion to strengthen this place of contentment,
Of sat,
Chit,
Ananda,
Known as truth,
Pure consciousness,
And bliss.
Each practice weaving a strong bond to knowing and feeling this place so intimately within your own being.
Let us close this practice by resting in the mantra,
Sat,
Chit,
Ananda,
Repeating silently in your head or whispering softly into your heart.
Sat,
Chit,
Ananda Sat,
Chit,
Ananda Resting in absolute existence,
Absolute knowledge,
Absolute wisdom.
Ram Kere,
The Indian mystic,
Said,
I am without form,
Without limit,
Beyond time,
Beyond space,
Beyond time.
I am in everything,
Everything is in me.
I am the bliss of the universe,
Everywhere I am.
I am sat,
Chit,
Ananda Absolute existence,
Absolute knowledge,
Absolute wisdom.
Sat,
Chit,
Ananda Sat,
Chit,
Ananda Sat,
Chit,
Ananda Resting in absolute existence,
Absolute knowledge,
Absolute wisdom.
I am in everything,
Everything is in me.
Taking a moment to bring your hands into anjali mudra,
Prayer position,
Palms touching over your heart.
And bowing to this meeting of seemingly separateness,
Two hands uniting in one mudra,
Like a loaded ice over your heart,
The blooming of ever awakening presence.
Breathing into this place of light within you,
And recognizing it.
Holding a moment of silent gratitude for yourself,
For coming here today,
For showing up for this practice,
And for this gift of light.
Thank you for joining me today,
It is an honor to share this rich practice and time with you.
May you be happy and content,
May you be protected and free from inner and outer harm,
May you be healthy and experience all pervading peace.
