You So we're just listening to the sound of that bell.
And if you like,
You can close your eyes.
Sometimes closing our eyes helps us listen.
A little bit more.
Going quiet and listening.
And first you can just listen to the sound of your own breathing.
Can you breathe in a way?
That you can hear your own body,
Your own breath.
And White says,
When your eyes are tired,
The world is tired also.
When your voice is tired.
When your mind is tired.
When your heart is tired.
Just listen to the part of you or the parts of you inside.
I feel tired right now.
Find the tiredness.
And listen.
Feel your way into the parts that feel tired and maybe just giving them this quiet space to rest.
So you can rest here,
Resting your mind.
Resting your eyes.
Resting your voice.
And resting your heart.
And White says,
When your vision has gone,
No part of the world can find you.
When your voice is gone.
When your heart is gone.
No part of the world can find you.
So maybe take this moment as you sit here.
To find yourself.
Find yourself sitting here.
Yourself in the form of a body that's here.
But also yourself that's interconnected to what's around you in this space.
The self that's connected to what's outside of even this room or this vicinity.
A self that's connected to people.
And nature.
Something bigger.
Find yourself.
Embodied self.
Connect itself.
Just be with that self for a few breaths here.
You can help to place a hand on your body.
Being with this body.
Or I can help to place a palm up on your lap.
To be with others.
Palms open.
To others.
Finding ourselves.
So from this place of Finding yourself here.
Being in silence with yourself.
Maybe you can find a little bit of home.
Landing back home in the present moment.
At home in this body.
At home in this space.
In this bigger home.
And the silence that holds that home.
I'm going to be quiet for a bit.
For you just to Be here.
To get quiet and listen.
So what's here?
White writes that the night will give you a horizon.
Further than you can see.
And I'd add that the silence.
Will give you a sound.
Further than you can hear.
So in this silence.
What is the sound coming from your body?
The sound coming from your heart.
The sound of people around you that you've been missing.
Just listening to.
The sounds.
And he writes,
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
As you sit in silence.
What can you free up?
Surrender or let go of.
Just allow yourself to be free in this moment.
Resting and free in the quiet.
So the practice of the meditation.
Is to go quiet.
And listen.
Listen to the body.
Listen to the heart.
Listen to the space that you're in.
Just let yourself be free to receive.
Listening.
And you can listen to the breath.
If you need to find an anchor.
Or you can just have open.
Expansive listening.
Ears open.
And as we close our meditation.
First,
We turn to the body.
What is something in your body?
That you need to listen to.
Message from the body.
Let me turn to the heart.
What is something in your heart?
That you need to listen to.
You've been talking over.
Return to a relationship.
Choosing a relationship with somebody that you love.
What is something in this relationship?
That you need to listen to.
Maybe you've been talking over.
Or yelling or whispering.
What is something you need to listen to?
Return to nature.
To a tree or a plant or waters.
Or lands or animals in your life.
What is something from nature?
That you need to listen to.
And then we can turn to just our greater collective.
The sounds of our planet,
All the people.
The things that we talk over,
The people we talk over.
The conflicts we talk over or yell about or whisper about.
What is something from our collective?
That you need to listen to.
And then you can take all of that you can take the.
The sufferings of the body.
And breathe them in.
Breathe them in and allow them to be transformed and then breathing out cool,
Clean air.
Breathing in the sufferings and pains in your heart.
Drink them in,
Breathe them in.
And breathing out.
Cool clean air.
Breathing in the sufferings of your relationship.
The pain,
The struggle.
Breathe it in.
Take it in.
And breathing out cold,
Clean air.
We can breathe in the sufferings of nature.
Pain.
Devastation,
Breathe it in.
Transform it in your body.
And breathe it out,
Cool,
Clean air.
And we can breathe in the sufferings of our collective.
All the voices unheard,
Unrepresented.
All those in pain.
In conflict.
We breathe it all in.
Transform it in your own body.
And breathe out cool,
Clean air.
And this is the practice of deep listening.
Where you can breathe in.
You can transform.
And you can breathe out.
That which you want to send out.
Bell rings So as we always do,
We close with.
Three bows.
And the three boughs represent the three refuges.
So thinking about The first refuge is you take refuge in yourself and your own true nature.
Thank you for showing up on a Monday.
Whatever time it is,
Wherever you are.
For this time together and just bow to yourself.
Take a nice deep bow for yourself.
And then the second bow is to our teachers and our teachings,
And sometimes those teachers are Our body is our teacher,
Nature is our teacher.
So many teachers and teachings offered to us every day.
So thank you.
Bow to the teachers and teachings.
And then the third bow is to our sangha,
Our community.
Thank you for showing up here.
Together and I bow to all of you online wherever you are and those that listen later.
Deep bows to you.
Thank you.
