So we can set up our posture,
Finding the base of your body where you touch the ground,
And maybe even pressing a little bit down into the ground so that you can lift your spine up,
Your heart open,
Your shoulders drop.
And you can just notice where the tongue touches the top,
The roof of your mouth.
And if you like,
You can play with your hands a little bit.
So you can place your hands down with your first finger and your thumb touching,
Or you can place your palms in your lap,
The left hand under your right with your thumbs touching.
And then landing here,
Letting go of any tension between your eyebrows,
Letting go of your jaw,
And then noticing where your body makes contact with the ground.
And bringing awareness to the heaviness of your body or the lightness of your body,
This base of your body contacting the ground or your seat.
And then bringing awareness to the trunk of your body,
Bringing awareness up,
Including the base of your body.
You can also begin to notice your belly and your back,
Letting your awareness spread to your heart,
To your shoulders,
To your arms and your hands.
It's sort of like you're beginning to light your body up with awareness from the inside,
Like a light bulb turning on,
Aware of your throat,
And your face,
Aware of your whole body sitting here,
Stopping,
Glowing with awareness.
You've stopped.
And as you bring awareness to your whole body,
Stopped here,
Glowing with awareness,
You'll also start to notice the movement of your breath.
So breathing in,
Arriving,
And breathing out here.
Breathing in,
I've arrived.
Breathing out,
I'm here.
And you can repeat this little mantra to yourself for a few rounds of breath,
Just to help you connect with the in-breath and the out-breath and the arriving here.
You're arriving to your life.
Breathing in,
I've arrived.
Breathing out,
I am here.
And as you arrive here,
You may notice there's activity of the mind or activity of the heart,
So it can be helpful to go to that image again of being at the space of awareness that holds it all,
Maybe at the back of your heart,
Maybe at the base of your body,
Maybe even behind you.
Breathing in,
I have arrived.
Breathing out,
I am here.
And you can let the mantra begin to fade so that it's just arrived on the inhale,
Here on the exhale.
And then eventually,
The words fade all together.
You just feel the quality of arriving on the inhale,
Full body arriving here on the exhale,
Full body here.
And just as you would arrive here,
Maybe into your home or into work,
And you put things down,
Arrive here with the breath and put things down.
What is it that you need to put down?
On that exhale,
You can just put it down for right now.
Put it down.
You don't need to carry it.
So you're arriving on the inhale,
Here on the exhale,
And putting it down with that long exhale.
Letting it go.
You don't need to carry it.
And as you continue to notice this movement of your breath,
The movement,
The sign that you are alive,
You are here,
You are living,
You are breathing,
And all the activity at the front of your heart.
We can also arise here now to something much bigger that can hold us.
So you breathe in and arise.
You breathe out here,
You put things down.
And then you can begin to open up,
Lean back into the loving awareness that is holding you,
Holding our whole sangha,
The people that are here,
The people that are not here,
Holding your family,
Holding the hospitals,
Holding the children in the Middle East,
Holding all of us.
And you can begin to open it up at the back of your heart.
It's almost like an aperture of the camera that opens up at the back of your body,
Opening up to love at the back of your body,
Dissolving the back of your body into an open space.
Spacious love.
And breathing in,
I have arrived.
Breathing out,
I am here.
You can feel the love at the back of your body that extends behind you to everything that's behind you,
But that includes you.
You can lean back and rest in it.
And you can open up to the right side of your body,
Dissolving the edges of the right side of your body,
Opening up to loving awareness on the right side.
And everything to the right side of you is included.
You can open up to the left side of your body.
Dissolving the edges of your left side of the body,
Opening up to spacious,
Loving awareness on the left.
Everything on your left is included.
You can open up the front side of your body,
Opening up your heart,
Your face,
The edges of your chest and your belly,
Opening up to this spacious,
Loving awareness.
Everything in front of you is included.
Breathing in,
I've arrived.
Breathing out,
I am here.
You can open up the top of your head,
Opening up the top of your head to love,
Spacious,
Loving awareness.
Everything above you is included.
You can open up the base of your body,
Down below,
Dissolving the edges of where you touch the ground,
Where more space begins.
Everything below you is included.
So breathing in,
I have arrived.
Breathing out,
I am here,
Centered and held in loving awareness,
Expansive loving awareness that goes on in all directions.
Touching everybody and everything,
Holding you but holding all of us.
Breathing in,
I have arrived.
Breathing out,
I am love.
Breathing in,
I have arrived.
Breathing out,
I am love.
Breathing in,
I have arrived.
Breathing in,
I am love.
Breathing in,
I am love.
Breathing out,
I am love.
Breathing in,
I am love.
Breathing in,
I am love.
Breathing out,
I am love.
Breathing in,
I am love.
Breathing out,
I am love.
Imagine the center of your attention right in front of you,
Right at your third eye,
A person or a community that you would like to focus some of this loving awareness towards.
You can just imagine them right in front of you and see them with your third eye,
With your heart.
Feel their presence.
Somebody who is facing suffering.
Can you see that in this person or this community?
The children or the child within this person?
Their suffering?
And you can just offer them some of this loving kindness from your own heart.
Just a very simple mantra of may I be one with you.
May you be free from suffering.
May I be one with you.
May you be at peace.
And may you feel our collective love.
Just offering them some of this love.
May I be one with you.
May I be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you feel our collected love.
So you just include them in this space of loving awareness.
And then bringing your attention back to your body in this moment.
Noticing where you touch the ground.
Your body being breathed.
I'm going to close with a short poem by Rosemary Trummer called The Question.
All day I replay these words.
Is this the path of love?
I think of them as I rise.
As I wake my children.
As I wash dishes.
As I drive too close behind the slow blue Subaru.
Is this the path of love?
Think of these words as I stand in line at the grocery store.
Think of them as I sit on the couch with my daughter.
Amazing how quickly six words become compass.
The new lens through which to see myself in the world.
I notice what the question is not.
Not is this right?
Not is this wrong?
It just longs to know how the action of existence links us to the path of love.
Is it this?
Is it this?
All day I let myself be led by the question.
All day I let myself not be too certain of the answer.
Is it this?
Is this the path of love?
I ask.
As I wait for the next word to come.
So I like to close with three bows,
One for each of the jewels of our practice.
I learned more about our hands coming together so our mind and our body can come together in the form of a lotus,
Offering a lotus flower.
So we offer the lotus,
Sort of the seed of awakening to our teachers.
Whatever teacher you want to bring into this space,
You can think about who your teachers are.
And we take a bow to our teachers.
And then we offer a lotus to each other,
Our sangha.
We practice together and thank you for coming.
And then we offer a lotus to ourselves,
Our true nature,
Little bodhisattvas.
