Take a comfortable,
Stable posture.
You can take some time to settle in.
Sometimes small adjustments will make a difference to how the body feels.
We are aiming for a calm,
Yet energetic state.
Today,
We will be doing a practice that involves thinking about who we are and about our relationships.
Relationships to different objects,
To others,
And to ourselves.
Together,
We will visualize different aspects of our world and explore how we relate to them.
We'll also explore with different ways of seeing these aspects of our world.
First,
Get a sense of your body.
How does the body feel right now?
As we will be doing different small exercises,
Maintain awareness of the body.
Whenever you feel it has shrunk,
Open it back up.
Feel the body.
Now we are going to think of something that we own and that we like.
It can be any object.
Let's start with an inanimate object,
Not a pet or anything like that.
It could be a piece of clothing,
A particular musical instrument you own and like.
Anything that appeals to the mind.
Anything that,
Once entering a room,
If you were to see it,
You would recognize it as yours.
Imagine it as vividly as you can.
Now as you keep picturing it in your mind,
Begin repeating the mantra,
Not mine.
So view the object in your mind and mentally recite,
Not mine.
See if you are able to see that object without the additional layer of relationship that ties you to it.
Keep the object in mind,
Seeing it as not yours,
But just as the object.
How does that feel in the body,
To shift from seeing an object as yours to seeing it as not yours?
Now let's move to something different.
Let's pick a living thing,
But let's pick a non-human living thing for now.
It could be a plant that you own,
Or a pet.
And if none of those come to mind,
Just any plant,
Tree,
Or animal you might have a relationship with,
I repeat to yourself while imagining the object,
The living being,
Not mine.
See that living being in all its natural growth and glory,
Unburdened,
Naturally being,
Naturally flourishing.
Imagine a non-human living being you have a relationship to,
Or that you own.
View it as not mine.
Now let's move to a person you have a relationship with.
It could be a child,
A parent,
A sibling,
A friend,
A partner,
Any significant relationship that comes up.
Imagine that person vividly,
Mentally recite,
Not mine,
This person is not mine.
Imagine that person living naturally,
According to their own needs and desires,
Unburdened,
Flourishing,
Growing.
Now for the last exercise,
Imagine yourself,
See yourself as natural phenomena,
Currently doing this practice,
Flowing through life in all sorts of different ways,
Bound by causes and conditions.
View yourself with kindness,
With lightness,
In the same fashion that you viewed the other objects or living beings before.
Wishing yourself well,
But without a sense of oppressive ownership.
Viewing yourself as a natural being,
A part of nature,
Like everyone else,
Like every other being.
As I ring the bell to end the meditation,
Let the ears hear it,
Without owning the sound.
Just let hearing happen naturally,
Selflessly,
Effortlessly.
