Take a moment to observe your breathing without control,
Noticing the natural flow of air in and out of your body.
Let your back be as straight as it's comfortable for you without effort and notice your posture maybe feeling the points of contact where your body meets the surface.
Feel the presence within yourself,
The person within your clothes,
Within your skin,
Within your body.
Right down into the bones to see if you can locate that buzzing,
Vibrating,
Feeling presence within.
Today we'll meditate on the Jedi Code.
This is a set of five back sims which encapsulate the Jedi philosophy.
We'll take them one line at a time,
Consider each and then end with a meditation on the whole code.
Please be aware that a bell will chime in the background to mark the midpoint of our meditation today.
But first we'll start with a relaxation exercise to bring us into a state of calmness and complete stillness.
So with your eyes gently closed and in a comfortable position,
Let your next in breath be a little deeper than normal.
Hold the breath for a moment and let the out breath be even longer.
Continue this exercise of extending your breath,
Breathing in slowly,
Holding it slightly in the midpoint when your lungs are full and then exhaling in a controlled way,
A pace which is comfortable for you.
See this controlled length in breathing for the next three or four breaths.
Breathe into all parts of the chest and stomach,
Expanding your body,
Extending your breath.
And with the next out breath let your breathing return to its normal automatic state.
Take a moment to observe this natural flow of breath which goes on whether you notice it or not.
Realize that in this breath is your life,
Your being,
Your existence.
Now turning your attention within,
Let's notice and release any pockets of tension in your body.
With the next out breath consciously release any tension you are aware of and relax more fully into your posture.
And again with the next out breath relax down into the body,
Let go of any obvious tension.
Be comfortable,
Be calm.
With each breath feel yourself becoming freer.
Let's go.
And with the next in breath consider your body more closely starting at the top of your head with the brow.
Let your brow be smooth and relaxed,
Let it be at peace.
Just keep your focus there just for a few breaths.
Let go of any tension you find.
And moving on now to the eyes,
Let them be soft and loose in your head as though they are floating in pools of cool water.
Perhaps you can allow yourself a slight smile there.
Feeling free and easy and at peace.
And perhaps let that smile spread through your face into your lips and into your jaw which should be loose,
Relaxed.
Let your tongue be free in your mouth,
Perhaps gently touching the roof of your mouth.
Breathing slowly,
Gently,
Letting go.
And we'll move our attention down through your neck,
Through your shoulders.
Just seeing if there's any tension there which you could release on an out breath.
Taking your time,
Kindly,
Gently letting go of any tension.
And moving on down through the shoulders into the arms,
The elbows,
All the way down to your hands.
Whatever position your hands are in,
Letting that be soft and comfortable.
Your goal is to become soft,
Free and loose and to let go.
And perhaps returning to the shoulders as you move down into your torso,
Your chest,
All the way down into your hips and into your sitting muscles.
Finding yourself softer and freer with every out breath.
Letting your breath be your guide.
And moving on now from your hips into your legs,
Down through the knees and the shins,
All the way down into your feet.
See if you can feel the arch of the foot,
The soles of your feet.
Release any tension you find there.
And as you continue breathing,
Moving into each toe,
Letting even your toes be free and loose and still.
Now bringing your attention to your whole body,
From the top of your head at your brow,
Right down to the soles of your feet and your toes.
See if you can hold everything we've just considered in your attention and your consciousness.
As you breathe,
As you sit relaxed and silent.
Keeping in mind the space you occupy as you breathe,
As you relax as one.
Again seeing if you can find that inner presence,
That buzzing,
Perhaps vibrating sensation that's in your hands,
In your feet,
In your chest.
As deep as your bones,
Deeper than your flesh.
The central point of who you are,
Who it is perhaps that's experiencing,
That's decided to come here today.
And resting in this moment of realization that that's you,
That's who you truly are in every moment.
Now we'll move on to our consideration of the Jedi Code.
The code has various forms but the one I'll be using today is as follows.
Emotion yet peace.
Ignorance yet knowledge.
Emotion yet serenity.
Chaos yet harmony.
Death yet the force.
Remaining calm,
Still and at peace.
Let's consider together the first line of the code.
Keeping your attention on your breathing.
Emotion yet peace.
We experience emotion every day.
Think of a time recently where you felt a very strong emotion.
Perhaps this is a positive emotion like happiness.
But often the emotions which make the biggest mark on us and which come to mind are perhaps negative anger,
Grief or sadness.
Just let whatever comes,
Come and consider it for a moment.
Consider the situation which created the emotion.
Perhaps this was another person or perhaps it was an internal experience where you were looking at yourself and feeling an emotion.
Just sit with the emotion for a while,
Breathing.
See if you can feel the emotion resonate in any part of your body as you breathe.
Let's begin.
Emotion is an important part of the human experience.
Humans are emotional beings.
Without emotion we could not feel.
Compassion,
Humility,
Love.
These are parts of the rich emotional texture of our lives.
That an excess of emotion can bring us away from our center.
From the deep peace available to us all.
So make your next in-breath especially deep and hold for a while before another extended out-breath.
From this out-breath let the emotional experience out and continuing this pattern with each out-breath let the emotion go.
Letting it go.
And on an in-breath imagine breathing in peace,
Calmness,
Stillness,
Serenity.
Occupying that same space where the emotion was strongest.
Breathing in peace and breathing out the emotion.
And continue breathing out emotion and breathing in peace.
And continue breathing out emotion and breathing out peace.
Focusing again on your breath and allowing your attention to come back to my voice and relaxing into your posture we move on to line two.
Ignorance yet knowledge.
We're all ignorant of some things.
Think of a time recently when you've realized that you didn't know enough.
This can be a positive experience where you had an opportunity to learn or perhaps a negative experience where you've made a mistake or felt foolish.
When you have a recent event in mind consider the knowledge you felt you needed but perhaps lacked.
Consider also your response to that feeling whether you saw it as an opportunity or whether you experienced it as more of a crisis.
And just sit with your realization of this ignorance for a while.
Breathing.
See what you feel inside when you consider this experience of ignorance as you breathe.
Ignorance is another fundamental truth of the human experience.
We simply can't know everything and that's okay.
Without ignorance we can't learn,
Grow,
Come to understanding or realization.
All of these things are brought about in part by ignorance.
Ignorance is a ladder to understanding and if we recognize this we can choose to climb it,
To find knowledge and to come to wisdom.
Taking a deep in breath and I'm holding it slightly on the next out breath allow this experience of ignorance out and with each exhalation let this ignorance go.
Letting go of ignorance,
The feeling of ignorance,
The experience.
And on an in breath imagine breathing in knowledge.
This doesn't have to be any specific knowledge just that feeling of knowing what to do.
Intelligence and security.
Knowing how to proceed.
Intelligence,
Realization and wisdom replacing the ignorance you became aware of.
And continue at your own pace breathing out ignorance and breathing in knowledge.
Letting go of ignorance.
Letting go of ignorance.
And if your thoughts become distracted at any point simply notice the distraction and return your attention to the sound of my voice or to your breathing as we move on to line three.
Passion yet serenity.
Everyone has passions and try and think of an issue you feel particularly passionate about,
Something which is close to your heart.
Perhaps it's a person,
A relationship,
Maybe a social cause,
An environmental,
Political or religious ideal.
Focus on the object of your passion,
The cause of the strong feelings that are stirred within you.
And just sit with this passion for a while,
Breathing and seeing if you can feel that passion stirring in your heart as you breathe.
Passion is an essential ingredient of our lives.
It motivates us and it guides us.
Without passion we couldn't make decisions,
Find inspiration,
Determination and dedication.
All of these are aspects of passion.
But passion can stop us from finding that deep well of calm we're all free to draw from at any moment.
So let your next in-breath be a deep one and on the out-breath slowly breathe out this passion and carry this on with each slow exhalation let your passion go.
Remember on the out-breath feel the passion but let it go.
And on an in-breath imagine breathing in serenity,
Perhaps this is patience,
Tranquility,
Peace.
Let it flood into your heart.
And just carry on breathing out passion and then breathing in serenity.
Ah!
Foolish!
.
Bringing your attention back to my voice now as we move on to line four.
Chaos gets harmony.
Chaos frequently surrounds us.
Life is busy,
Complex and can be very unpredictable.
Consider a recent event which caught you by surprise.
Then this may have been a positive,
Perhaps serendipitous event or it may have been a difficult accidental problem which you've had to deal with unexpectedly.
And rather than wishing you had had the knowledge to avoid this chaos,
Just let your mind rest on how it felt to be out of control of the situation,
Even just for a while.
Sit and breathe with this experience of chaos.
Just realizing that the world is big and it is chaotic and it is complex.
Chaos often surrounds us.
We can never know enough to predict most things with absolute certainty.
However this chaos keeps things interesting.
Wander,
Creation,
Even luck.
These experiences are aspects of the chaotic nature of reality.
Chaos can leave us feeling ungrounded as though the rug has been pulled from under us.
It can make us insecure.
We can forget that we're all part of one harmonious system and that everything is exactly as it must be in every moment.
So let's take a deep breath and on a slow out breath allow this feeling of chaos to go.
With every breath out we just let it leave.
And on the next in breath imagine breathing in harmony,
Unity,
Togetherness,
Oneness with all that is,
Filling your awareness.
And just continue like this,
Breathing out chaos and breathing in harmony.
Next came theJordan patch.
.
Remaining calm,
Focused and still we move on to line 5,
The final line of the code.
Death,
Yet the force.
Death is one of the few things we can predict with any certainty about life.
Whatever our beliefs,
We recognise that humans are mortal.
And death can affect our lives in other ways,
For example the death of loved ones or of pets.
Or even acquaintances or celebrities can shake our experience of life.
Think of a time recently where you've experienced death.
This may have been a close,
Personal encounter of loss or grief,
Or perhaps something more distant.
A death on the news or of someone you admired.
Take a moment to realise that death exists,
It's real,
It's part of life.
And also that it's okay to accept death,
To acknowledge it.
Just sit with this understanding of death for a while,
Breathing and remembering that you're safe here in this moment.
Death is a feature of life.
Appreciation of the time we have and the time we have with those around us,
Provides some of the most profound experiences a human can have.
But focusing too narrowly on death ignores the fundamental aspects of the universe we live in.
Nothing is ever lost and those who die remain with us.
In our memories,
In the chemicals that compose their bodies,
In photographs,
Words,
Teachings,
Experiences,
Events and times past.
In the spirits or souls which make someone who they are and which make us,
Us.
Though our bodies pass on,
Our identities remain.
That persistence,
That which remains,
Is one of the fundamental ways of understanding the force.
The fabric and pattern of our reality.
So take another deep in breath and on the next out breath allow this feeling for mortality out.
Just with each exhalation,
Every out breath,
Let death go.
And on an in breath imagine breathing in creation,
Existence,
The force that moves the planets,
The stars and the galaxy.
Recognize that you are one and the same as the universe you are part of.
An eternal grain of sand on the beach of reality.
And continue for a while,
Breathing out death and breathing in this force.
.
.
I'm sure by now you'll have noticed a pattern to our code.
Something we might not be comfortable with,
Followed by something we prefer.
Emotion,
Yet peace.
Ignorance,
Yet knowledge.
Passion,
Yet serenity.
Chaos,
Yet harmony.
Death,
Yet the force.
You see the pattern,
Something we find difficult,
Yet something we prefer.
We can choose to accept emotion,
Ignorance,
Passion,
Chaos,
Even death as important parts of life,
Of our experience.
Of what it means to be human,
To be real,
To be us.
But we can also choose to return to our center,
To find peace,
Knowledge,
Serenity,
Harmony and the force.
In following the Jedi Code,
We choose to live a life consistent with these values.
Peace,
Knowledge,
Serenity,
Harmony and the force.
And when we meditate,
We recognize and practice our connection to these inequalities of stillness,
Reflection and calm.
We allow ourselves to become one with what is,
Rather than fighting our natural tendencies.
We all get overwhelmed from time to time.
But we can always come home to these core values.
Peace,
Knowledge,
Serenity,
Harmony and the force.
For the final part of our meditation today,
I'll give you some space to consider the code on your own.
Allow whatever thoughts or ideas come up just to come and then to go.
Let them rise and then fall like waves in an endless ocean.
And if you realize you've become distracted into other thoughts,
Just allow your attention to return to the code or to your breath.
To the endless silent presence at the core of your being.
Sitting comfortably and breathing as we begin.
Emotion yet peace.
Ignorance yet knowledge.
Passion yet serenity.
Chaos yet harmony.
Death yet the force.
Let it rise and then fall like waves in an endless ocean.
Emotion yet peace.
.
Just thinking about returning your attention to the rest of your day.
Thinking about opening your eyes,
Perhaps stretching your muscles,
Feeling refreshed,
Ready for what's coming now.
Thank you,
I hope you have a beautiful day and may the force be with you always.
.
