To get started,
Find a comfortable position,
Whether seated or lying down.
Feeling yourself being grounded in the present moment.
And down.
Gently bringing your attention to your breathing.
Gently bringing your attention to the breath,
And at this moment you may like to close your eyes.
And feel the breath and the sensation of the breath.
Just the inhalation and exhalation and the sensation of the breath as you inhale and exhale.
In particular,
Pay attention to the sensation of the breath around the nostril area,
Above the upper lip.
Feeling the coolness,
The warmth of the air,
The gentle tingling of the air as you're breathing and breathe out.
Grounding yourself in the present moment,
Grounding yourself in the present moment.
Gently bringing your attention into the body now,
Following the breath into the lungs.
Feeling the breath,
Feeling the breath.
And noticing the rising and falling of the chest as you breathe in and breathe out.
Noticing the expansion and the contraction of the belly,
The rising and falling of the belly as you breathe in and breathe out.
And noticing yourself becoming more present and more grounded,
More still.
Noticing yourself more grounded,
More present.
Continuing to feel the breath and bringing your attention into the whole body now,
Just placing your attention and feeling the energy field of your whole body from head to toe,
Just feeling every sensation within the framework of the body.
Noticing where your body is making contact with the chair or the ground or the bed or wherever you're grounding yourself,
Just noticing the sensation of the parts of your body that are in contact with the chair,
Your thighs,
Your back.
And continue to pay attention to the present moment within the framework of the body.
Bringing attention to the breath and body withdraws energy from the thinking mind that is constantly chattering away in the background.
Suddenly,
The thinking mind is no longer in the foreground but in the background.
And you are in the present moment,
In the foreground,
Your presence,
Your conscious presence is here.
At this moment you notice there's a dis-identification from the thinking mind that the mind does its own thing,
Thinks,
Judges,
Complains,
And you allow it to be as it is.
That's the beauty of the practice is to allow whatever is to be as it is in this present moment.
Allow yourself to be present.
I just noticed that my sound might be not very clear,
So I'm just moving the computer a bit closer.
So allow yourself to be grounded in the present moment by bringing your attention into the body,
Into the breath,
And allow yourself to be as you are in this present moment.
Just allow yourself to be as you are because as you are is the way that you are to be in this present moment.
No resistance to the reality of the present moment in whatever shape or form it takes.
Just bring surrender and acceptance to the present moment so that you enter the state of peace within,
Your natural state.
The natural state is peace,
And so we are returning to our natural state.
It is the natural state of life,
The natural state of the universe.
The only moments of perturbation are the moments of survival,
Which are secondary to life as life takes care of itself without struggle.
There is birth,
There is death,
Both natural states of life,
The arising and passing of forms.
So we bring a sense of acceptance and peace to the present moment.
Now,
Since this will be our last Divine Presence meditation before the end of the year,
Let us bring intention,
An intention to live in the state of peace and love,
Which are the natural state of life,
And cultivate that within ourselves,
Letting go of the need to change others,
Letting go of the need to change the world,
Letting go of the need to judge anything,
But instead becoming the change we want to see in the world,
As Gandhi puts it,
By cultivating peace and love within ourselves,
And as we do,
We begin to shift our environment,
So let us be at peace in this present moment,
And in every moment.
A question may arise,
How can we be at peace in every moment in life?
The answer may be both simple,
Yet profound,
And it is in acceptance and surrender to the present moment that we cultivate peace.
Acceptance of the present moment,
Whatever shape or form it is taking,
The complaining neighbor,
The scathing boss,
Scolding parent,
Screaming child,
Allowing it to be,
And it doesn't mean we don't take some action to improve a situation,
But at that moment,
There is a sense of surrender and acceptance,
There is a sense of acceptance and surrender to your own inner state,
Now your inner state may not always be peace,
It may be anger,
Frustration,
Rage,
Disappointment,
Sadness,
Loneliness,
Disconnection,
So you bring a sense of acceptance and love to that,
Whatever it is,
You bring kindness to rage,
You bring kindness to disappointment,
You bring kindness to disconnection,
You bring kindness to anger,
You bring kindness to whatever is arising within the framework of you,
Your body,
Your mind.
Of course,
You are beyond all of that,
You are the pure conscious presence that allows,
You are the one that brings kindness.
But where does that come from?
That kindness comes from the natural state of the universe,
The divine.
So all you're doing is clearing the clutter of your heart,
Clearing it away so that that love can shine through and bring healing to your own self,
Mind,
And heart,
And body.
You're allowing the natural state of life to flow through you,
Through surrender.
So let us bring the intention of being at peace and in a state of love whenever,
At every moment,
In whatever we are experiencing,
Bringing that to our own human experiences,
Bringing forgiveness when we forget to be at peace.
All states of love,
Which manifests itself in different forms like compassion and kindness and forgiveness,
Gentleness,
They all point towards the infinite presence of love within.
This brings healing,
Brings healing.
And it's independent of the external environment,
It's independent of what's happening outside of us,
Although it influences the external environment.
As you cultivate peace and love within,
Your relationship with others,
With the world,
Will change and shift.
You become more kind and loving towards others,
And you bring out the kindness and love within them.
But they have it too.
It may be buried in bitterness,
It may be buried deep under anger and resentment,
But it sits there.
And sometimes it may take moments,
Minutes,
And sometimes it may take years for that to resurface and heal.
So patience is required.
But the process remains the same,
To constantly bring ourselves in a state of peace and love.
When we catch ourselves judging another or ourselves or situations,
Instead of judging ourselves again for being judgmental,
Bring love instead,
Bring forgiveness,
Bring kindness.
And you break the cycles of reaction and judgment right there and there in the present moment.
Bring kindness and compassion and forgiveness,
Each time you fall and fail,
Each time you forget.
Constantly bring kindness and acceptance.
Bring kindness and acceptance to every anger you thought,
Every judgment.
And notice it becoming mild,
Gentle.
Your mind becoming mild,
Gentle,
Calm.
This is the access point to peace.
Peace within and peace without.
The external world is a mirror of what is within us.
And all that we see happening today is a reflection of our inner states.
Individually and collectively.
But we cannot point fingers at anything or anyone.
Because we have the access to that peace within us,
Through cultivation of inner peace and love.
And whether it takes minutes or years or decades or centuries,
We will not give up.
We will continue the process of cultivation of inner peace.
And over time,
Transformation will take place.
In our personal lives,
In our relationships,
And as well as the global level.
And as we do that,
We become more nurturing.
We nurture life.
We nurture nature,
Plants and animals,
People.
And as we cultivate inner peace,
Our need for consumption reduces.
We need less to numb our pains,
For the pain begins to heal.
And as the pain begins to heal,
The traumas of the past begin to heal.
Relationships begin to heal.
Relationships with others,
With the planet.
And we begin to manifest the divine presence in life.
We then allow God's loving presence to manifest through us.
So we surrender in infinite presence.
Allowing that infinite light to heal and nurture.
Another access point is letting go of all the labels you accumulate over time.
All these labels,
None of which are worth defending.
For you are beyond all of this.
Beyond all the labels you've accumulated.
Personal and professional labels.
Ethnic,
Religious,
Gender.
You are beyond all of that.
Far beyond.
So recognize your innate,
Infinite preciousness beyond the labels you carry.
And you'll begin to feel the infinite love expand.
Expand.
And you realize nothing can ever get close to this from this external world,
From this material world.
Nothing of this world can even get a glimpse of this infinite presence.
So remain in the presence of the infinite light and love that permeates all time and space.
The infinite light and love that permeates every atom and every cell of your body,
Your mind,
Your heart,
Your soul,
Connected to the source of life.
Allow yourself to sit in this presence.
It's infinite presence.
It's loving presence.
Allow yourself to heal.
And recognize you have access to this anytime and anywhere.
Through your own presence,
Your loving presence,
Your own breath and your body.
Becoming present to your own breath and body are access points.
Just as is intensely looking at someone else in the eyes or looking at a flower or a tree or feeling the breeze on your face.
The master of the universe has given you so many access points that require nothing but your own presence,
Your own awareness of this present moment.
No wealth,
No status,
No particular situation or place is required.
Only your own simple presence.
Accessible to all of you,
No matter where you are,
What you are,
Who you are.
That infinite love is for all.
None is excluded.
None is excluded.
So allow yourself to be nourished and nurtured by the infinite presence of the divine.
Always with you.
In every place.
In every place.
In joy and in sadness,
You have access to it.
So be still.
So that you may experience the divine presence within you.
Be still.
So as our year comes to an end,
Let us wish for the welfare and well-being of all of life,
Of all people,
Of all of life,
Locally and globally.
May there be peace.
May there be healing in the hearts and minds of all people.
May there be peace and may there be love in the hearts and minds of all people.
May all of us finally recognize that the only true access to peace is love,
Forgiveness,
Kindness.
Even if it is forgiveness of our own unforgiveness,
Let us bring forgiveness to that.
For all of this happens naturally,
Without effort,
Without force.
So bring love to whatever there is,
Including your own bitterness.
Bring kindness to your own bitterness and anger and resentments.
And watch it transform into peace.
Watch your own bitterness transform into peace by bringing love to it.
Bringing forgiveness to every aspect of yourself.
Nothing to change.
Nothing else to be.
But heal yourself within by bringing love.
Let it enter your heart and mind and soul.
And every speck,
Every atom,
Every cell of your body.
Be at peace.
