Take up a comfortable position sitting on a chair or on the floor a mat.
And before closing the eyes,
Feel your feet,
Your legs,
Your lower body,
Where it touches the floor or the chair.
Feel the upper body,
Your arms,
Your neck and throat,
Your head and face.
And then gently close the eyes.
Bring your attention to your breath.
See where you can best observe it,
Maybe at the nostrils,
Maybe in the abdomen.
And just observe the natural flow of your breath.
There's nothing else to do.
Bring the attention to your body.
Notice how it's sitting,
Still,
With a sense of dignity,
Resolve,
A sense of being complete.
Let your posture reflect this sense of wholeness.
And then in your mind's eye,
Form the image of a mountain,
A majestic mountain,
Its peak in the sky,
Its solid base.
And admire how massive,
Solid,
Unmoving and beautiful this mountain is.
And then focus in on some of the details,
Streams or waterfalls,
Forests,
Birds and wildlife,
Meadows or lakes.
Observe all of it.
And then start imagining that the mountain and you become one.
If you find this difficult,
Just imagine that the properties of the mountain become yours.
Start to feel grounded in your sitting position.
Your head is the peak of the mountain,
Supported by your body,
A stunning view.
Your shoulders and arms are the sides of the mountain.
Your buttocks and legs,
Your solid base.
This is a sense of uplift from the pelvis and spine.
It is the flow of your breath that makes you feel alive and vital.
And for now become aware of the stillness and peace beneath it all.
Just be,
Just be you.
Beyond words and thoughts,
A centered,
Grounded,
Unmoving presence.
Day and night,
Light and dark,
The constant changes,
Transition times of dusk and dawn.
And then there's the weather,
The seasons.
Stormy,
Snowy,
Rainy,
Foggy,
Cloudy,
Scorching heat.
And then there's all the life and activity on the mountain.
The streams,
The plants,
The trees,
The wildlife.
That the mountain just is,
Largely unaffected by it all.
And people come to see the mountain,
Commenting on its appearance,
Sharing their opinions,
Disappointment or excitement.
But whatever happens,
The mountain just sits there,
Being itself.
In the same way as we sit in meditation,
We can learn to experience the mountain within ourselves.
In fighting stillness and groundedness with everything that constantly changes in our lives.
We experience changes in thoughts,
Feelings,
Our bodies,
The outer worlds.
We all have periods of light and dark,
Color and bleakness,
Storm.
Be as the mountain.
Accept its strength and stability.
Our pain,
Joy,
Emotions,
They are like the weather on the mountain.
It just comes and goes.
And we may see it all as personal,
But it's not.
The weather in our lives is not to be ignored or denied.
It is supposed to be experienced,
Honored,
Known for what it is and held in awareness.
Become aware of your deeper stillness,
Awareness and inner peace.
Namaste.
