Very good.
So,
Now is the time,
As usual on a Friday night,
To have a bit of peace and quiet,
To calm the mind,
Relax the body and to enjoy the stillness.
Usually you know that meditation is working when you experience this beautiful happiness in meditation.
It's always called the happiness of letting go.
When people ask,
Well how do you let go?
You have the idea of letting go of being still and then you feel whether it's working or not.
The mindfulness is what can tell you whether you're letting go or not,
By its results.
You know it's letting go if all the weights,
The burdens,
The stress fall away from you.
Peaking up,
Attaching means just more weight on the body,
More burdens on your mind.
Letting go means it's weightless,
Free,
Light.
So the mindfulness will actually tell you,
I have now let go,
Therefore I'm more peaceful.
And you enjoy the delight of peace.
So let's give this a go.
Sitting down,
Closing your eyes.
Now to let go of the tightness and tension in the body.
Letting go is the opposite of controlling.
So feel the body.
There are parts of your body you're holding tight,
You're controlling them.
Maybe because you've got an ache,
An irritation somewhere and quite naturally the body will tense up around that area.
It always tightens around painful places.
Now you've got to notice those painful places and relax.
Obviously the best way of relaxing is to move.
To move the tight knee.
Just wiggle the bottom so it does feel comfortable as best you can.
To stretch the back and the shoulders to make them as comfy as you possibly can.
As far as the hands are concerned,
It doesn't matter where you have your hands,
As long as they're comfortable.
I know sometimes people say,
Oh you should have the Tibetan posture with your hands on your knees or the Burmese posture,
One hand over the other or the Australian posture,
Hands crossed on your front.
I don't care what you do,
As long as you're comfortable.
So keep on fidgeting until you get the body just right.
Moving has done its job.
You can't get the body in a more comfortable position by moving or coughing or sneezing.
Then we go to the more refined process of inner relaxation.
There will still be some parts of the body inside which are aching,
Which are tight,
Which are stressed.
We develop this awareness of the feelings of our body,
Mindfulness of physical sensations.
And usually we'll be aware of the strongest of those sensations,
Usually an ache or a pain.
Allow the mind to be with that strong,
Negative sensation.
And give it kindness,
Beautiful compassion,
Beautiful embrace,
Warmth,
Letting it be.
See if you can notice the mindfulness give you feedback.
You will learn from this trial and error with the feedback of mindfulness,
How to relax the tight places inside your own body,
How to untie knots and pain,
Open out compressed places so healing can happen.
You learn from trial and error with mindfulness showing you what works and what makes things worse.
You will discover the what works,
What removes the anxiety,
What removes the tightness,
What takes away or at least lessens the pain.
This beautiful letting go of kindness,
Making peace,
Make peace with the feeling and the feeling becomes more peaceful.
When the body is relaxed,
It should feel delightful.
Let it go of a lot of tension.
Let go of having the body so it can rest.
Please be aware of the delight of a rested,
Relaxed body.
It will become a reward that motivates you to relax again and even more deeply.
Notice the reward of the delight in relaxation.
Let it go of a lot of tension.
Let it go of a lot of tension.
Let it go of a lot of tension.
And then let the body go as we relax our mental world.
Letting go of the burdens of past and future.
The heavy weights which stop us enjoying this moment.
Just perceive the past as a big heavy bag you're carrying.
The future is another heavy bag.
I just put them down on the ground.
Letting go of all the past.
Letting go of all the future.
You worked so hard in the past to get here.
Now enjoy this moment.
Relax.
You have arrived here.
And as for the future,
Now is where your future is being made.
If you're concerned about your future,
Be concerned about the place it's being constructed right now.
And relax with this moment.
Just making peace with whatever you're experiencing now.
This beautiful kindness,
Compassion,
And silence.
Notice the delight of stillness.
Being still.
And now have free.
How wonderful it feels.
When the body stops moving,
It can relax and get better.
When the mind stops moving,
It too can relax,
Become strong and happy.
Be still.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
It is getting close to the end of the meditation.
Don't open your eyes yet.
Just know how you feel.
Especially be aware of the amount of peace,
Relaxation,
And sense of stillness you have in the mind right now.
And know where we came from.
From letting go.
Making peace.
From mindfulness and kindness.
What we call kindfulness.
I'm now going to read the gong three times.
Please listen to every sound from the gong.
When the last ringing vanishes,
Come out from your meditation.
I can see you.
It's a call from my room.
Okay.
Thank you.
Very good.
So now if you'd like to get yourself comfortable,
Those on the outside want to come in.
Those on the inside want to go out.
I always say as long as more people come in and go out,
I'm happy.
And everyone goes out,
I'm in big trouble.
