Let's get comfortable.
Whatever that means right now.
Let's get comfortable.
And let's take a few deep breaths together.
Let's take a few deep breaths.
See if you can use the movement that the breath creates to examine and let go of any tensions that are present in the body.
Let's take a few deep breaths.
Whatever tensions remain will remain.
Or maybe if we're lucky,
We'll forget to keep making them.
Put your attention on some bodily sensation.
It might be one of these tensions that we've been speaking about.
It might be a pleasant sensation.
It might be a neutral sensation.
Ask yourself,
When did this sensation begin?
Was it always here?
Has it always been the same?
Will it always be here?
And will it always be the same?
You may find that abstract ideas arise in answer to these questions.
But see if you can answer them in terms of your own direct experience.
In terms of direct experience,
Which is what we're interested in,
In mindfulness practice.
Then we really don't have to look too far to see that this sensation was not always around.
And indeed if we look closely enough,
We see that it's changing constantly.
In examining this one sensation,
We experience the truth of impermanence.
And nothing stays the same.
Not even what you call yourself.
Your body.
Not the view out of the window.
Nor the way it looks.
Not your environment.
Nor the way it sounds.
What you call you.
And what you call your environment.
What does this have to do with freedom and happiness?
Well,
When we treat things,
Including ourselves,
As though they ought somehow to stay the same,
We're going to be disappointed.
The idea of consistency is of course a human invention.
Dremped up by the rational mind.
That part of the mind that would very much like for things to stay the same.
Why?
Well,
If it could just figure out how to keep things the same,
It wouldn't have to die.
The fear of death is at the root of all of our efforts to keep things the same.
But just as we're going to be disappointed if we try to keep something the same,
We're going to be disappointed if we try not to die.
The only way to be free,
The only way to be happy,
Is to accept the truth that we will die.
And to accept the truth that everything changes.
If one has been living in denial regarding these truths,
Then even considering them can seem painful.
Actually,
It's the denial that's painful.
When we're in denial,
We're having to maintain something.
A constant resistance to the way things are.
Letting go of this can be likened to letting go of something physically,
Which we've been clinging onto tightly for a long time.
The fist may need to be prized open.
The prizing is spiritual practice.
As the fist opens,
There may be pain.
But this is the only way to truly relax.
To truly be free.
In this true relaxation,
This true freedom,
We're better able to enjoy life,
Finite as it is.
In fact,
We come to see that its finiteness is its beauty.
We learn to value each moment of life.
Instead of worrying about the previous,
Or being anxious about the next.
When we become present,
We're better able to serve ourselves,
And to serve others.
We find ourselves in the condition we've been seeking all along,
Without having to pay for it.
May we all enjoy our practice.
May we all gain insight into impermanence.
May we all be free.
May we all be happy.
