Welcome to day six.
We are now entering into the waxing crescent phase and this is where the moon is traveling with the sun and where the sun is no longer blocking our view of the moon.
From our perspective,
We are starting to see her head pop out little by little.
And just like the moon,
Where her light is starting to be revealed,
We are the same on our spiritual journeys.
Today we will talk about starting to wake up,
Starting to be seen,
And starting to understand mindfulness and what it means to be mindful in our daily lives.
There's a common analogy in mindfulness that mindfulness is seen like a bird.
Mindfulness has two wings,
Just like a bird,
In order to fly.
And the two wings are,
One of them is clear seeing and the other one is compassion.
Clear seeing is also seen as wisdom or insight and the other is compassion.
So we need insight and compassion balanced in order for the bird to be able to soar.
Because when compassion isn't informed by wisdom,
It might actually not be compassionate at all and too much wisdom or insight might turn into over-intellectualization.
So there must be a balance between this compassion and wisdom to help us stay present with the challenges that we face in our lives and how we can learn from those challenges.
And when we think about where we learn the most in our lives,
Where is it?
Is it when we're feeling good and everything's going the way that we thought it would?
Or is it when we're growing and we're learning and we're facing challenges?
I mean,
Where is it where we learn the most?
Just interesting to tune into.
And it's critical for us to remember the teaching of the beginner's mind.
When we're over-intellectualizing,
When we're stuck in trying to quote-unquote figure it out.
And there's actually nothing to figure out.
There's in the Buddhist tradition really just presence here,
Now.
We're not interested in the past.
We're not interested or even we know that it's not even possible to plan for the future.
So we're just in each and every moment and offering the other wing of mindfulness,
Which is compassion with everything that arises.
All right,
So compassion.
We will dive into this much more throughout this course.
However,
Let's slow the word compassion down and take a look.
What is compassion?
What does it mean to be compassionate?
In my view,
Compassion is love with action.
So let's take a simple cup of tea first thing in the morning.
We can hold this cup of tea in our hands and a compassionate response to the tea would be for me to look and gaze upon the tea and feel in my body and in my heart and in my experience,
All of the hands and a gratitude towards the earth for bringing this tea into existence.
And then for this tea to show up with me right here,
Breathe it in,
Smell it,
Be present with it and offer this action of kindness and appreciation for all of the herbs that went into this,
That the earth grew so that I may be drinking it in this moment.
That's one example.
Another way is you're having a conversation with someone and they're feeling challenged.
They're having a really hard time.
And compassion is when you can hear them,
You can stay with them,
No matter what they're sharing with you.
You can look at them,
You can engage with them.
And in the language that I use in the Macaranda Method with the private practice that I run is the concept of still seeing that person in their wholeness.
You know,
I remember Tiame,
My teacher was sharing with me that sometimes when people really open up and share,
She notices that on my face,
I will cry with them.
I will cry with people.
I will feel deeply.
And on the one hand,
It's beautiful.
And I don't wish to change that about myself.
And she mentioned that there's a way that when I buy into the story and I show that I'm feeling so deeply on my face,
What they're experiencing,
That it can actually keep people stuck there.
So her offering to me was feel the feeling and continue to see them in their wholeness.
They got this,
It's going to be okay.
They're riding the ride.
This is a part of it.
I can't fix them.
There's nothing that I can do besides be present with them as they share with me and hold and breathe and be there.
Just be there.
That is the compassionate response.
So what this is,
Is holding this kindness towards myself,
Towards others,
And we can allow ourselves to remember that we're not separate from any other being on the planet.
And we can be kind to ourselves and we can hold our hands and hold our loved ones and say,
We got this.
And there's a way that our heart starts to grow and this wisdom,
This clarity of mind,
When we sit with ourselves and we create space,
There's enough action in sitting with ourselves that when we don't know where this money's going to come from,
When we don't know where the food's going to come from,
One of the best things we can do in the Buddhist perspective is to meditate and to pray and to call in the abundance that is there for us.
Tara Brach talks about something called the trance of scarcity and catching ourselves when our minds go to the trance and saying,
Actually,
I can bring mindfulness to this.
I can bring wisdom,
Clarity of mind,
Groundedness from my meditation practice and loving compassion.
Metta,
It's also known as M-E-T-T-A in the Pali language,
Bringing both wings of mindfulness in and perhaps placing a hand on our heart in those challenging times and breathing and saying,
You got this,
You got this.
I'm here with you to yourself,
To your own being,
Staying as your own companion.
The Buddha says,
Can you be your own refuge?
Can you hold yourself?
And can you also remember others and be compassionate and joyful and loving towards all beings everywhere?
Let's practice.
You will hear three bells to begin and three bells to close.
Arriving in a comfortable space,
Noticing what you're bringing,
Noticing what,
If anything,
This Dharma talk has brought up for you,
Just letting it all be there,
Welcoming all of it and welcoming in the mystery of life,
This mystery of what it means to be full of wisdom and this mystery of what it means to be compassionate,
What it means to,
In other words,
Be mindful.
And all we have to do right now to build our wisdom is to sit in silence and feel and notice and move towards what arrives.
Notice what's happening on the inside.
How do you even go inside and what's going on there?
I like to focus on any tingling or vibration that I feel.
My heartbeat is a powerful one to linger with.
See if there's a place of tingling or sensation where you can let yourself rest,
No matter what it brings up with a gentle kindness towards yourself,
A compassion,
A love with action as you explore what arises in the stillness,
Perhaps noticing your face,
Bringing your awareness to your face,
Seeing if there's any tension you can feel.
And I invite you on your exhale to let that tension go.
Perhaps there is a way that feels appropriate for you in this moment in time where you can simply notice yourself,
Notice yourself sitting right here and see if you can just observe what happens if you decide to bring a slight smile into your eyes with compassion and an open mind,
A beginner's mind,
As you invite softness into your features,
Being a kindness and a gentleness towards your experience,
Practicing that,
Practicing compassion with action.
Just right in this moment,
Something comes up and you can breathe with it and just say,
I'm here.
It's okay.
I'm right here,
Breathing,
Following your breath,
Following your body,
Using an anchor that works for you,
That brings you back,
Staying connected to the air that keeps you alive,
Present here.
Now noticing if there's any discomfort forming in the body,
Wisdom of your body to be present while also bringing compassion towards your experience.
This is mindfulness for the last few moments of this meditation,
I invite you to bring some length to your breath,
Really expanding your inhalations and your exhalations.
Simply observe how that feels with kindness,
Slowly,
Gently bringing your awareness back to the space around you.
Thank you so much for continuing this journey and just between now and tomorrow,
I encourage you to notice how the bird of mindfulness shows up for you today and every day.
Thank you for your devotion to your meditation practice and to the moon and we'll see you tomorrow.
