Let's begin by taking a moment to allow your body to settle.
Sit comfortably in a quiet space where you can be free from distractions.
You can close your eyes or keep them open with a soft gaze downward a few feet in front of you.
Let your shoulders drop from your ears,
Rest your hands comfortably on your thighs.
Let the belly and shoulders relax.
Now,
Breathe gently and slowly in and out through your nose.
Connect to the breath not only through your mind but through your body.
Notice the felt sensation of breath and then notice where it is that you are.
Beginning on a grand scale recognizing the country in which you are sitting.
Even with all its fault,
Aware that you are here in a nation that is relatively safe.
And that offers you and others the freedom to do things such as this practice.
To sit here comfortably right here and right now.
Recall all the nations in the world that are at war.
That are unsafe where people might be prosecuted for doing something as simply as sitting quietly and praying.
And feel a sense of gratitude for where you are.
Recognize that gratitude not only in your mind but feel it in your body.
A sense of gratitude with your whole being.
And then zoom in a little closer to the particular region of the country in which you sit.
Maybe your neighborhood.
Notice all the simple beauty around you in this area.
Just notice how beautiful they are.
Take note of your assets,
Do housing,
Do food and do work.
Take note of your neighbors or friends,
The community that surrounds you.
And again,
Feel into a deep sense of gratitude for all the circumstances that have led you to this place right here,
Right now.
Tap into that gratitude as it is felt by the body.
And then zoom in further to the place in which you are seated.
Recognize that there is a roof above your head.
Feel the support of your chair or cushion or floor underneath you.
Take note of the sensation of the clothes against your skin.
Recall that there are millions in the world right now who have no such comforts.
And feel your body soften into gratitude for all that is supporting you in comfort right here and right now.
Notice where in your body that sense of gratitude arises.
And then hold attention on the body itself.
Recognize the good fortune you have of having been born in a human body.
Recognize the incredible prosperity of your health,
Your ability to move.
If you can see and hear and speak and smell and touch and feel things,
Notice how precious these gifts are.
Notice how precious of your breath.
Each breath in and each breath out.
The preciousness of your heartbeat.
The steady pulse of energy staying alive inside of you.
Congratulations,
Your fortune and again check in with that full body feeling of gratitude.
Grateful for all of the most simple yet most inestimatable functions of your human body.
And then recognize the mind itself.
Your curious mind.
A mind that is interested in learning,
Growing.
A mind that is occupied right here and right now with meditation.
We call how each and every being in the entire world is in pain.
And yet there are so many for whom the idea of meditation is too far out of reach.
Of all the things that you could be doing right now,
You have chosen to slow down,
To get quiet,
To focus.
You have chosen to work on developing the moral virtue of gratitude.
You have chosen to open your heart to all that is going right in your world,
In your life.
You have chosen to take steps towards clarity,
Patience and happiness.
You are doing the work right here and right now.
And with your body,
Feel into the reality of that.
Recognize with deep gratitude that intuition that has brought you to this moment.
Sit with the sensation of gratitude and grateful.
Grateful for this opportunity,
This body,
This breath,
This mind.
Locate the sensation of gratitude in body,
Breath and the mind itself.
And open further to its present.
Feel it soften you,
Feel it lift you up.
Let gratitude hold you,
Support you and encourage you to further awaken.
Then you may slowly open your eyes and maintain the sense of gratitude.
Until such time,
You may continue your practice.
