In this next meditation,
We speak to the possibility of discovering the wisdom and great compassion of the Buddha nature that is our own true essence that resides within us and can be called upon even in the most difficult circumstances of life.
Because it's one thing to practice in a protected environment of a meditation center or in a sacred space we set up in our home,
And it's another to be in the thick of the great difficulties of life and say,
Well,
Where is Buddha nature now?
So allow yourself again to sit with ease and comfort in your body.
Let your eyes close gently,
Your posture be relaxed and alert,
Present,
And come back for just a few moments to feel the natural rhythm of breathing,
The centeredness of your present awareness.
Operators restrictions.
Now,
In this stillness and in the midst of this present mindful moment,
Allow yourself through reflection in the mind's eye to remember,
To see,
To think about or sense in any way you can a particular situation in your life which is most difficult.
It can be at work or in community or family relations,
But let there come into your mind's eye and into your heart the scene and the imagining and the remembering of what is the most strong difficulty that you face in these times in your life.
And as it arises,
Feel,
Sense,
See,
Imagine yourself back there as fully as you can.
Be in the thick of that experience.
What does your body feel like when you're there in the middle of it?
Sense that.
What are you saying?
Who are you with?
Picture,
Feel,
Imagine.
And now let it get to its peak,
To its worst moment.
Notice what it's like,
All the things that you're caught up with,
How difficult it is,
What everyone's doing and saying.
And then in the midst of this worst moment where it feels most difficult,
All of a sudden there's a knock at the door or the doorbell rings or even if you're outside,
There's someone who's coming.
And whoever you find yourself with,
At that moment,
Say,
Excuse me,
Pardon me for a moment,
And leave the situation entirely.
Go to the door or see who's coming.
And as you go,
You will notice that who's coming is an amazing being,
A being of tremendous compassion and wonderful light and wisdom.
It might be Buddha or Mother Mary or Jesus or Solomon or the goddess,
Quan Yin,
The goddess of infinite mercy.
Let a being that represents compassion and wisdom appear to you.
And they come up to you in this place and they look at you and they say,
Having a hard day?
You kind of acknowledge,
Yes,
This is a tough one.
And then they say,
Well listen,
Let us try an experiment.
You give me your body.
I'll take on your body in close so I'll look just like you and I'll let you be invisible for a while and you let me go in and show you how I might handle this situation.
So here is Buddha or the goddess of infinite mercy or Solomon or Jesus or Mary,
Whoever it is,
Who are now inside your body and you follow them back into the middle of the difficulties,
Into the thick of the difficulties.
Picture,
Sense,
Imagine,
Feel them there and notice how they handle it.
What do they say or not say?
What is the state of their body like in the middle of it?
How do they respond?
Let them show you and demonstrate how one could attend to this difficulty and finishing up as they show you.
Then they say,
Excuse me a moment,
Pardon me again,
To whomever they're with.
And they stand up and you follow them back to the place where you met them,
Outside the door,
Outdoors,
Wherever it was.
And they give you back your body and resume their practice.
And then they say,
Well,
I'm going to go and I'm going to go and I'm going to go and I'm going to go and do it in an easy way so that you'll be happy.
So they move on with their practice to their person.
Every day the person starts contemplating whether or not they're saying things they really need to know and are interested in.
Is there something I should Renato tell them?
Or spaghetti.
And see or know or picture or feel,
Imagine what it would be.
And if it's not clear,
Hold it up to the light,
You can see it.
And then before they leave you,
They reach over and touch your body with their hands somewhere in the most healing way.
And then whisper into your ear,
A few words of final advice.
Picture,
Hear,
Sense,
Imagine,
What are those words of advice that they have for you?
You can know.
And then bow to them,
Pay your respects,
And let yourself come back.
And then bring your gift to this room.
Bring your gift and your understanding back with you.
There's a great question that this meditation brings to anyone who does it and has some sense of success in it.
And that is,
Where did the Buddha or the goddess of mercy or mother Mary or Solomon or whoever it happened to be,
Where did they come from?
This being that knows how it feels in the body,
That knows just the words to say,
That knows how to act.
They're inside us all along.
The compassion and the clarity that we seek is our true nature,
And all we have to do is to remember them.
So this is the finding of Buddha nature in the midst of difficulties.
