Ota you you Some people who listen to these Recordings online comment that I talk too much They say that they love the sound of the waves and that I should leave more space for them So let's take a few minutes really together To settle and land and listen to the waves So it's interesting as I listen to the waves I'm also listening to my inner voice,
My inner monologue and it wants to say things and I'm saying no no no these people want some quiet and maybe this is a practice in itself to come towards silence to call a halt and put a stop in the flow of words And that can mean the words coming from us and the words coming in My friend was telling me yesterday her new practice is to turn off her phone during the afternoon when she's working,
Turn off the data so there's no whatsapp messages coming in,
No emails coming in to the phone because so often she goes to make a call and actually gets distracted by a bunch of other stuff So it feels like these are some of the disciplines,
The boundaries that we place around our behaviour when we sit to meditate,
When we determine even to live a more meditative life,
A more mindful life And maybe it's only when we move towards that silence that we get to really see how we are to feel how we are And also to see and feel that how we are changes moment to moment So even as we sit and settle,
The body starts to relax,
We find breath Even this small practice,
This small intention can change the way we feel quite dramatically Tension can start to fall away So coming back to this sense of silence and stillness inside,
We can open the being to the sounds,
The sensations coming from outside Rather than reaching out to meet those sound sensations,
Telling a story about them perhaps,
We settle back and absorb them And like the flow of words,
There will be a flow of responses that we can also learn to sort of put a stop in for a while to put a pause in To take a moment to examine that word,
Is that the right word?
Is that what I want to say?
To examine that response,
Is that the response I want to express right now?
Is that the action I want to take right now?
So this kind of slowing down that allows then more room for the stillness,
More room for the breath,
More room for the being Can you let go of those words and responses just a little more?
Can you kind of loosen the grip on them?
You may look down at your hands and see that your hands are kind of gripping tight or you might feel some gripping in the body somewhere Is it possible to deliberately loosen that grip on life really?
To let life,
Words,
Responses flow in an easier way?
Is it possible to deliberately loosen that grip on life really?
To let life,
Words,
Responses flow in an easier way?
Is it possible to deliberately loosen that grip on life really?
To let life,
Words,
Responses flow in an easier way?
Is it possible to deliberately loosen that grip on life really?
To let life,
Words,
Responses flow in an easier way?
So through this practice of slowing down,
Noticing both the external stimulus and the internal words,
Responses,
Acts that want to flow through but not necessarily acting on them,
Speaking them,
Responding in that way,
Instead kind of staying with the noticing we become much more conscious.
It's literally like waking up,
Waking up to the sound sensations we're surrounded by that move us and waking up to our own expressions.
And taking more time before we put out those expressions,
More time to consider whether they're appropriate,
Whether it needs to be said,
In a way makes us more responsible in the world,
More responsible for our words,
For our actions.
It's like growing up really.
We grow up through this meditative practice,
Through this slowing down,
This increase in consciousness.
We get to be more responsible adult citizens.
We can see if those words we were going to say are likely to harm and we can choose whether we say them.
We can see whether those actions are helpful and whether we make them or not.
And in this world where there are a lot of actions and a lot of words,
It seems like we could do with a bit less of both.
We could be those people that talk a bit less,
Act a bit less,
Embody a bit more stillness and a bit more consciousness,
A bit more responsibility,
Taking a bit more responsibility for our place in the world.
So responsibility,
This word ability to respond,
Really taking care of our ability to respond.
And you'll find that the more you do it,
The more we do it,
The more we come back to silence,
The more comfortable it is.
The more simple life becomes really when we spend more time in this inner world.
It becomes clearer,
Becomes more habitable.
More enjoyable.
So a little bit more time then in the silence together.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
