So just inviting you to kind of settle.
Now coming back to that question.
Tell me,
What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Letting,
Sitting with that question as you settle into the meditation.
Sitting in a way that's comfortable and relaxed.
Taking a few moments to make any adjustments.
Now,
Invite your shoulders to relax.
Let your chest be open.
Maybe take a couple of longer,
Deeper breaths.
Letting your hands rest in your lap or on your knees or on your thighs.
Closing your eyes if you're comfortable doing that or just leaving your eyes open with a soft,
Unfocused gaze.
And I'd invite the kind of the focus,
The attitude for this meditation to be one of really a non-controlling attitude towards whatever is present.
So not trying to get anywhere.
Not trying to accomplish anything.
And you're not trying to even stay focused on your breath or anything.
But just allow yourself to open to whatever comes up for you.
Whatever comes up for you.
See if you can allow it to be here,
Allow it to come and to go in its own time.
So this attitude of not controlling your experience but just letting it be.
Letting whatever is here be here.
Letting it come,
Letting it be and letting it go.
So whatever bodily feelings are here,
Just make space for what's here.
Let it come,
Let it be,
Let it go.
Whatever mood or emotions are present right now or mind states.
Maybe there's some sadness,
Something difficult you're working with or some pain or some thoughts in the mind about things not being the way you want them to be.
See if you can just observe that just to let the thoughts come.
Just rather than holding onto them,
Just let them pass.
Allow the feelings in the body,
The emotions as they move through the body,
Just let them come and go.
So letting everything have its space,
Letting it come,
Letting it go.
Really letting life be life.
So letting go of any sense of controlling your experience.
You could kind of envision yourself just for a moment as though you're watching it all.
Just the whole play of life.
What's going on,
If whatever's going on around you,
If there's sounds,
Sound of my voice,
Sound of maybe traffic outside or whatever's here.
Whatever's going on within you,
Just all of it coming and going.
And also like clouds moving through the sky or birds flying through the sky.
Everything coming and going.
Not clinging,
Not resisting,
Not judging,
Not denying,
Not escaping.
It's all coming and going.
Maybe some,
You think of it as waves.
Maybe some waves are bigger and some,
You're watching them rise and fall,
Crest and ebb.
Come and go,
And letting go of even the witness.
And just let there be,
There's just the witnessing,
Just the knowing,
Just the awareness.
Coming back to the question from the talk,
What if anything is in the way of being completely free,
Completely at peace right now,
Right now?
And if you're feeling restless,
You'd be at peace in the midst of the restlessness.
So that whatever is here just can be known in awareness.
Doesn't have to be a problem.
Might appear as a problem at first,
And you say,
Oh,
Okay,
Can I be with this?
Can I let this also come and go?
And in these final couple of minutes of the meditation,
You're just wishing yourself compassion,
Bring kindness to yourself as you breathe in.
Wishing yourself well.
It could be putting your hand on your heart,
Wishing yourself peace or happiness.
May I be happy,
May I be safe,
May I be kind to myself.
And then as you breathe out,
Just wishing well to everyone who's here,
This community,
This beautiful community of these live sessions,
All of us together,
This wider community of Insight Timer,
Millions and millions of people around the world.
Wishing everyone well.
You might send out a wish of loving kindness to everyone here.
May you be happy,
May you be safe,
May you be free from suffering.
And you could just breathe in and out this kindness to yourself and compassion out into the world,
Towards everyone here,
And then more broadly into the world.
I just want to share Anika's reflection in the comments,
In the chat.
My intention is to continually choose to be a beacon of love and light.
No matter where I am and who you are,
I choose to love through it all.
What a beautiful reflection.
Thank you so much for sharing that.
Thank you everyone else for your sharing.
And I want to,
On the same,
You know,
Very similar note,
Share this prayer from the great Tibetan Buddhist monk from the eighth century,
Shantideva.
This is from the much longer poem of his,
His prayer of compassion.
He says,
May I become at all times,
Both now and forever,
A protector for those without protection,
A guide for those who have lost their way,
A ship for those with oceans to cross,
A sanctuary for those in danger,
A lamp for those in the dark,
And a servant to all those in need.
As long as living beings exist and suffering afflicts them,
May I too abide to dispel the misery of the world.
Wishing you an auspicious year ahead,
And may you answer that question of your one wild and precious life,
How you plan to live your one wild and precious life as we go into the new year.
