Let's begin with the bell.
Just settling.
You may feel sad,
Or tired,
Or overwhelmed,
Or frustrated.
Needing rest.
You may feel that tiredness in your body,
Your mind,
Or even your spirit.
The kind of soul weariness that seeps into us.
You're giving yourself time to meditate,
To heal,
To restore,
Perhaps even to reinvigorate.
Because life is long and also short,
And there is work to be done to heal the world.
And we can't do that without soul readiness.
Just relax.
You don't have to do anything right now.
You've secluded yourself for this time of meditation.
Drawing into your breath.
Stillness and quiet.
And you don't have to do anything special.
It's not esoteric.
It's not weird.
It's literally just sitting or even lying down without any other actions.
You'll probably get bored.
You'll probably get distracted.
That is normal,
Acceptable,
Maybe even useful.
And when you start drifting,
Start worrying about the past or fretting about your to-do list,
Just come back.
Feel yourself sitting,
Embraced by stillness and quiet,
Listening to my voice and breathing in deeply,
Out slowly.
Slowing down.
Drawing in that nurturing that you can create all yourself.
Nurturing yourself by breathing,
By giving yourself time and space.
Calming yourself the way a child is calm when it is nursing.
Easy.
No demands.
Breathing in more deeply,
A healing energy.
Exhaling slowly.
You can use your breathing as a force for relaxing,
A place to open up your body.
Guiding oxygen and nutrition into sore muscles,
Tender joints.
A tender soul that needs tending and care.
We tend to ourself because the world also needs our tending.
So we make sure we are fully prepared,
Equipped,
And ready.
So that we can do our small and delicate part in making the world more just.
And if the world seems too overwhelming now or forever,
Just focus on making your internal system more just.
Bringing justice to yourself.
Making yourself more correct,
More steady,
Or even,
Better healed.
We use this meditation to reflect upon and to imagine the elements that compose justice.
The things that justice and a just world demand of us when we have the time and energy and capacity.
Breathing out.
Inhaling a little deeper,
Exhaling a little longer.
Getting heavy.
Relaxing into your seat and your mind.
If at times this work becomes overwhelming,
Just step back.
Just enjoy that you've given yourself time to meditate.
It doesn't have to be about any particular subject.
First,
We'll think about the theme of charity and giving generosity.
Letting the word charity just float.
What are its associations?
What comes up for you with that word?
How do you feel?
How does charity make the world more just?
Just toy with the word,
Toy with the concept,
The theme.
What comes up for you?
Breathe deep in that experience.
Exhaling slowly,
Just slowing down and feeling charity.
Where is it in your body?
And in some other time beyond this meditation,
What might you like to do to make the world more charitable and just?
We're not going to to-do lists yet or action items.
We're just feeling our way towards motion,
Towards justice,
Pursuing it gently and carefully and passionately.
Another element of justice could be law or rules.
Courts and structure,
Philosophy,
And the ability to define what's just.
When you read into that theme of law and justice,
What do you feel?
What do you notice?
Where does it sit?
Does it make your breath catch or expand?
Are there images,
Even words that come up when you think about the idea of law as a category of justice?
Part and parcel.
A world with law,
A world without law.
Breathing into that theme,
That ability,
That concept,
What makes a just law?
Just breathing.
You're not making law.
You don't have to do it right now.
You're just finding it in yourself for a future potential.
Inhaling deeply,
Exhaling slowly,
Slowing down,
Becoming more still and quiet.
Even noticing all the little perturbations in the quiet around you,
Never wholly silent.
We want to be just in our words,
In our speech,
Written or oral,
Even sung.
As we breathe,
Reflect on how we express justice in our words,
Even the words we listen to.
How can our mouths and our tongues be just?
The things we produce and publish.
And you don't have to solve or not solve.
We're just feeling.
As we breathe,
What would it be to use our words for justice?
To speak justly.
Just breathe into that possibility,
That capacity to use words in pursuit of justice.
When you get distracted,
Because you're probably getting distracted,
This isn't easy,
Just come back,
Follow my voice,
Back to meditate.
Find a smile,
Slow back down,
Breathe in deeply,
Out slowly.
Justice and being just requires actions,
Requires deeds.
We're not doing it now,
We're meditating on it.
So when you think about the word deed or actions to be just,
What comes up?
What's that work like?
What feelings do you feel when you think of the actions of justice?
Sentiments,
Sensations in your body,
Where do you hold that idea,
That concept or theme?
What does it mean to you?
Where is it inside you?
Where do the deeds that are just reside and begin?
It's hard work.
That's why we're meditating and giving our soul love and healing and energy.
So that one day we can do the deeds of justice.
Breathe into that,
Giving yourself some love and some justice,
Being just for yourself.
Breathing in deeply,
Out slowly.
Coming back when you're distracted,
As we all get distracted.
All the time,
Several times a minute.
That's healthy.
Coming back.
What about the means of justice?
The vehicles we use,
The tendencies we have.
How do we keep the means for justice to be just?
What does that even mean?
When you think about the means of justice,
Where do you feel it?
Is it confusing,
Challenging,
Curious?
You don't have to put it in words,
Just sense,
Endure.
Find a place for that sensation and theme.
Just means.
How would that feel?
What would it look like?
Breathing into it.
What would it be if our means were just in our pursuit of justice?
How do we do it correctly,
In a righteous way?
Not just for righteous goals.
Let that sit with you and you can't solve it.
Certainly not now,
But probably not ever.
Just a work in progress.
Breathing in deeply and out slowly and just tending to yourself and your weary soul with your breath.
Giving yourself the strength and courage you will need to pursue justice.
And lastly,
The ends.
The ends of justice.
What is a just end?
What's the goal of all this work?
What is the vision we have of a better future?
A mission for a more just world?
Let that swirl inside you,
In your body and in your spirit,
Even your mind.
What comes up when you think about the goal of justice?
The ends of it all.
What are we searching for?
What do you imagine?
It's too big to solve,
But worth considering.
Breathing into that.
Feeling the power of a just world growing.
And seeking out both the means and the ends,
The words and the deeds,
The charity and the law.
What does it become?
How do we strive?
And when the time is right,
What do we do?
Breathing.
You're just using this meditation to care for yourself so that you can discover better and better how to pursue justice.
Never a complete work.
Breathe into all those possibilities and passions.
Caring for yourself all the while.
Blessings.
