Now is the time to have some quiet meditation.
And just like monks and lay people go teach in prisons,
The reason why prisoners like doing meditation is that it teaches them how to fly over walls so they can escape.
So if anyone knows how to levitate during meditation,
You'll be very welcome helping you teach in the prison.
But we're not going to levitate now,
We're just going to be peaceful.
So close your eyes.
With your eyes closed,
So much of your brain is not taken up with seeing things and that is released so you can feel your body.
You notice when you close your eyes,
You are more sensitive,
Which is neuroscience.
So once you are more sensitive to your physical body,
You can see if part of your posture needs to be adjusted.
With your eyes open,
You can't see it,
You can't feel it.
But with your eyes closed you may be able to feel that your legs could be adjusted and they'd be more comfortable.
Or your back needs to lean back against the chair or come up,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
And if you want to sneeze or cough,
Please do so.
I always like to point out that you can even focus on inner discomfort.
I'm talking about discomfort inside your body,
Maybe in your intestines because you've got some indigestion or some ache or pain anywhere in the body inside,
Just by focusing on it and being compassionate and in this beautiful power of kindness which relaxes and eases and softens and loosens,
Which goes in the opposite direction of stress.
So add that compassion to any tight feelings inside your body.
And your awareness,
Your mindfulness should be able to give you the feedback that that ache,
That pain,
That tightness inside of you starts to soften and relax.
The first part of meditation is learning how to relax your own body part by part using mindfulness together with kindness.
Someone in Hong Kong said instead of mindfulness,
We call it kindfulness.
A very nice word,
Be kindful,
Not just mindful.
That will probably appear on a t-shirt from the Buddhist Society soon.
Be kindful,
Not mindful.
And this awareness and kindness towards your own body is not just preparing you for meditation so that you have a comfortable body,
It's preparing the attitude,
The combination of awareness and kindness which will guide you through the relaxation of the mental world later on.
But now we use it on our body,
Aware,
Compassionate,
Relaxing,
Freeing.
When the body does start to feel relaxed,
See if you can notice the delight,
The physical sense of pleasure when the body is at ease.
Arousing the perception of pleasure,
Happiness,
Delight when you start to relax is an important ingredient of meditation.
Just being kind and aware of your own body and noticing the delight when it relaxes.
Sense of ease and comfort when nothing is pushing or pulling or squashing any part of your body.
Everything is open and free.
There is no.
.
.
.
When the body is very relaxed,
Then you can let it go and focus on the mental world and see if you can do the same.
Be aware of what you are experiencing now and be in kind.
So there is no tightness or tension.
In particular there is nothing dragging you back to the past.
Whatever has happened today,
Early on,
Or early on in your life,
Disconnect,
Detach,
Let it go.
The time for dealing with the past is not during meditation.
That's your work,
That's your business,
It's what happens afterwards,
Not now.
And also release yourself from the future.
There is no need to plan,
To worry.
The future will sort itself out,
Especially when you realize that now this present moment is where your future is being made.
Look after the present and you are looking after the future.
So we relax into this present moment and are kind enough to let all the past and future go.
We are just being here,
A human being,
Not a human going.
Stop going somewhere,
Just be.
A human being.
A human being.
A human being.
A human being.
A human being.
A human being.
A human being.
And if you can,
Be peaceful enough not to give anything a name,
Not to have an inner conversation going on.
Because every time you think or describe an experience to yourself,
You've missed so much for what's happening in this present moment.
When you are silent,
Like listening to a great piece of music,
You can absorb everything.
So absorb this moment without any thought.
Just going,
Being in silence.
Just let go and all that's left is silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
We are coming close to the end of the meditation now.
How do you feel?
How peaceful is the body?
How peaceful is your mind?
If you've let go a lot,
You know this beautiful state of openness and freedom.
Just like the body is loose,
So the mind is loose as well.
Loose and free.
Just resting.
Just being.
Enjoy the happiness of not having to do anything or go anywhere or be anyone.
No demands.
No stretching or compressing.
Peace of mind.
I'm now going to ring the gong three times to end the meditation.
And just enjoy every last moment.
Listen to every sound.
And when the last,
The third ringing of the gong starts to fade away,
Then open your eyes to end the meditation.
GONG There's another lovely meditation.
