Welcome.
Let's begin by closing our eyes together and bringing our attention into the heart and taking some nice long breaths in and out of the heart area.
You might even have an audible exhale or a sigh to release any tension on the exhale.
So breathing in on a count of about five and then exhaling.
Let's do that again.
Breathe in.
One more time.
Breathe in.
And recentering your breathing in the heart,
I invite you to breathe in love and breathe out love in through your heart area.
Now let's presence into the body together.
Bring your attention down to your feet.
Feel the weight of your feet on the floor or wherever you're sitting.
Bringing attention to your knees,
Your hips,
And release any tension as you scan through the body.
Allow your cheeks,
Your eyes,
Your jaw to relax.
And just notice that there's a body sitting here breathing.
Sounds are coming to your ears.
If your eyes were open,
Light would be coming to your eyes.
Sensations are coming to your skin.
And all these things are things you're aware of.
And something is aware of these sensations and feelings and thoughts even.
So turn your attention to that which is aware,
The knowing awareness that is you.
That comes before any feeling or thought or sensation.
And notice that this awareness has no boundaries or edges.
It's not an object,
You can't define it.
Notice that this awareness doesn't come and go in time.
That all these sensations and thoughts and feelings come and go.
But there's this one thing,
Awareness,
The essential being that is you which does not come and go.
Notice that before you do anything,
Before you make a movement or think a thought,
Awareness is here.
I am aware.
It doesn't get more real in this moment than that.
That there's nothing you could take away or add to to make awareness different than it is.
So it is whole and complete,
Doesn't need anything.
So this is the most essential quality,
The most essential being that is you.
And really feel this for yourself.
That this isn't an idea in your conceptual mind.
But this is so basic and simple that you know this to be true for yourself.
Now bring your awareness into your heart center so you are knowing your heart from within.
Notice and feel the qualities of your heart from within.
Notice that there's a subtle light or essence of your being in your heart area.
Like a small campfire in the center of your heart.
And notice that this fire might be very small if times are challenging or it might actually feel quite strong.
But this essential light or being that is you cannot ever be extinguished.
That there's a quality of beingness here,
Of loving awareness that cannot go out.
And so for a few moments sit in this campfire of your heart and notice what happens when you bring your attention there,
If it grows stronger or stays the same or gets weaker.
And if thoughts arise,
See them like voices of people talking at the edge of the campfire.
And that's okay.
Just turn your attention back into the center of the campfire and strengthen it with your own awareness,
Your own attention.
And every time thoughts come,
Again they're just voices at the edge of the campfire.
Refocus your attention back into the center without judgment,
Simply being with the fire in your own heart.
And I'd like you to bring to mind now an issue or challenge that you are currently having.
Something where the answer doesn't seem clear or you can't seem to find your way through.
And with that issue in mind,
I'm going to drop a question into the campfire of your heart.
And so just deeply listen and allow the question to land as a rock would land in a pond,
Allowing the ripples to spread out and just be with whatever comes forth from the depths of your heart.
All the answers are already within you.
Education comes when we're drawn up into the office of our mind.
Study is found in our own heart,
In our own innermost knowing,
But also in our ability to just be with what's happening without adding judgment,
Blame,
Shame,
Guilt.
So mindfully stay centered on your own breath in your own heart.
Knowing that you don't need to think to be,
There's no analysis required to be.
There's an inherent luminosity,
Love,
Compassion,
And kindness in your own heart,
In everyone's heart.
And so,
Stepping out of the need to know with our mind and rather just be with our heart.
And you really feel this inherent wholeness,
That there's nothing to fix,
Nothing to know,
Nothing to do in this moment.
There's a trust here that you already are enough.
The peace and calm you seek is not something that we get from outside,
But it's something we discover that we already are.
But it gets covered up with the fog of the mind.
All those talking voices at the edge of the campfire get louder and louder,
So we can't even hear the crackles of the fire in our own heart.
And the way through,
The way to clarity is to come back to your own heart,
To bring your attention and awareness back to what you truly are until it grows in strength,
That it drowns out those voices.
And you say,
Oh yes,
There it is.
I remember.
It's just a remembering of what you already are.
And you just keep coming back again and again without judgment until the remembering stays.
When you're ready,
And only when you're ready,
I invite you to gently open your eyes,
But stay centered with your awareness in your heart so it's as though you're looking out at the world through the eyes of your heart with a soft focus.
And what would it be to greet every person that you met or spoke to or interacted with from the eyes of your heart?
I thank you so deeply for your practice.
Namaste.
