Choosing Forgiveness With Humor

Episode Six from the Center the Absurd Meditation Podcast where we engage deeply and mindfully with the silliest and most absurd spaces within ourselves in order to find levity and relief from the pains and stresses of our human existence.

Today’s meditation practice focuses on choosing forgiveness, releasing resentment and obtaining a newfound sense of power and freedom from old wounds.

Transcript

Welcome to the Center the Absurd Meditation Podcast,

Where we engage deeply and mindfully with the silliest and most absurd spaces within ourselves in order to find levity and relief from the pains and stresses of our human existence.

Today's meditation practice focuses on choosing forgiveness,

Releasing resentment,

And obtaining a newfound sense of power and freedom from old wounds.

Start by finding a comfortable position and beginning to relax into your body.

Breathing in,

Imagine a cleansing light entering through your nose and flowing throughout the length of your body.

On each exhale,

Release any tensions,

Tightness,

Or constriction,

Any heavy or tight energies you may be carrying.

With each breath,

Feel yourself sinking more deeply into a space of relaxation and focus.

Breathe in and imagine light and warmth moving through you,

And exhale,

Releasing any stress or negative energies you may have picked up or internalized.

In and out.

For this visualization,

I'm going to ask you to call to mind some experience of being done wrong,

Being hurt,

Being disappointed,

Or some unresolved conflict that still burns you up or makes you feel angry.

It doesn't have to be your deepest,

Most painful,

Or most traumatic wound.

In fact,

It may be wise to begin this practice with some hurt that feels manageable.

Maybe it's a small irritation or a slight that happened recently.

Maybe some annoyance that still irritates you.

If this is the first time you're walking through this meditation,

It may be wise to choose something that is unlikely to overwhelm you.

As you continue to practice,

You can move toward the more painful wounds.

Remember,

You can come back to this practice and listen to this meditation as many times as you want.

Now,

Imagine that you are watching a replay of the conflict,

Annoyance,

Or injury occurring.

Perhaps there is no sound,

Only the images of you and the other person or people involved.

If replaying the incident is too stressful or painful,

Try speeding it up.

See it playing out in double time.

People moving super fast,

Their voices sped up and comically high-pitched.

Give yourself the power to fast forward or pause the scene as you need to.

Take your time and remember to breathe.

You're not reliving the scene.

You're only watching it from a safe distance.

When the scene gets to a moment when you become aware of feeling hurt,

Imagine snapping a photograph or a screenshot or immediately pausing the scene.

You are now looking at a still image of the hurt occurring.

Notice the person or people in the scene.

Your hurt has you tangled up and tied to them,

Stuck.

You are all frozen in this painful moment together.

See yourself clearly.

Notice your own position,

How your face looks.

Try if you can to remember the feeling that was arising within you at this moment.

Now see the energy of that emotion as a bright ball of light inside of your chest.

Notice the color of the light.

Notice if it is pulsating or steady,

If it is hot or sharp,

If it is humming or singing.

If it is crackling or whooshing.

For a moment,

Stay with the energy and notice as much as you can about how you experience it.

Allow the images of the person or people who caused you this pain to fade back as you direct your energy and attention to the light.

Now reach into your chest and pull the energy out so that it is in front of you.

Notice that when the energy leaves your chest,

A space opens up and there is an immediate sense of release.

You are holding the light energy from your hurt in your hands and find you are able to manipulate it.

When you stretch out your hands,

The light expands.

When you move your hands together,

The light constricts.

And when you shift the light from one hand to the other,

It follows in whichever direction you send it.

Using your hands,

Mold the light energy into a ball about the size of a tennis ball.

Notice that as the energy condenses,

It becomes brighter,

Warmer,

And more intense.

At your feet,

You see a small sack.

It looks a bit like a burlap sack,

But as you pick it up with one of your hands,

You notice it is heavier and is thick and insulated.

You carefully place the new,

Hot pain energy into the sack and cinch it closed.

Even though the sack is made of a thick,

Heat-resistant fabric,

You can faintly see the light still burning and pulsating inside.

There is a surprising amount of weight to the bag,

And you have to use both hands to hold it up.

A path opens up before you.

Holding your pain now contained in the sack,

You begin walking.

The sack you are carrying is heavy with the heat and density of the hurt energy,

And you have to shift it from one hand to the other as your muscles fatigue from carrying it.

As you round a bend in the path,

You hear voices and laughter.

Music is playing,

And you can see ahead of you a brightly lit,

Colorful,

And lively carnival is taking place.

There are many people moving through the walkways,

Winding between roaring mechanical rides,

Game and food vendors,

And performers.

Everyone seems to be having a fantastic time,

And you are distracted momentarily with thoughts of joining the crowd,

Riding the tilt-a-whirl,

And eating cotton candy or some warm,

Sugary fried dough.

You become aware of an elaborate network of pipes running throughout the carnival.

Every mechanical ride has a thin pipe running from it,

Every carnival game booth,

Every food trailer.

Every part of the carnival is connected by a complex network of thin pipes winding throughout the park and joining at a central hub.

The energy hub of the carnival appears to be a small steel booth,

Inside of which you can see a man in an apron poking a stick into what appears to be a furnace of blindingly white light.

The man is wearing dark sunglasses to protect his eyes.

He looks really cool and mysterious.

As you approach the booth,

The man looks up from his task and gives you a nod.

He wipes his hands on his apron and then crosses his arms against his chest and speaks.

You got something to trade?

You look down at the sack in your hand,

Your arms weary from carrying the weight,

And plunk it on the counter.

The aproned man opens the bag and looks inside,

His eyes widening.

This is a big one,

He says.

This will keep the carnival going for days.

He looks around the booth and his eyes land on a high shelf.

You can see there are several items lined up on the shelf.

He reaches over and pulls three items down,

Placing them on the counter between you.

For this,

I'll offer you a choice of treasures.

You can choose one.

This,

He says,

Lifting up a shining red gem about the size of a potato.

This is a jewel of wisdom.

When you hold it,

All of the life lessons and insights you have achieved will be revealed to you.

He sets it down and picks up the item next to it.

This,

He says,

Lifting up a blue mug with painted white dots all over it.

This looks like an empty mug,

But it is perpetually full of the elixir of protection.

One sip and you are shielded for an hour from negative energies,

Toxic interpersonal dynamics,

And intrusive thoughts and images.

He sets the mug back on the counter and lifts the final item.

And this,

He says,

Unrolling what looks like a large heating pad,

Some kind of soft,

Plush mat about the size of a bath towel.

You immediately smell the scent of lavender and eucalyptus.

This is a heating pad.

I know it sounds unspectacular,

But when you wrap yourself in it,

All tension and energy blocks will be cleared and you will feel a wave of warmth and comfort flowing through you.

He lays the heating pad down and steps back.

The choice is yours.

Your eyes move over the items before you.

You already feel grateful to have set down the weight of your pain energy.

Your body is more relaxed and you feel cooler,

Lighter.

All of the treasures before you are pretty sweet.

You make your choice and bow your head in thanks.

We always need energy to keep the carnival moving.

Come back again when you have more to trade,

He calls after you.

You walk away,

Heading home.

You hold your treasure in your hand and smile.

You've made a wise trade and you know you will be rewarded every time you use your new power.

Your steps feel lighter and you feel like laughing.

You close your eyes and find yourself back in the room in which you started.

You are feeling relaxed and calm.

There is open space and ease within you.

You take a breath and slowly exhale.

You no longer feel constrained by your connection to the person or people who hurt you.

You can decide how and if you want to relate to them in the future,

But for now,

Something feels freed up,

Simpler.

You remind yourself there is a market for the energies you carry.

You can decide when it is time to unburden yourself of pain,

To release what you have been holding and forgive.

You now know that when you are ready to let some of that energy go,

There are treasures awaiting you.

And you also know there is a grand carnival of joy and pleasure going on around you all the time,

Fueled by you.

You have lifetime access to the thrills playing out in the larger world,

Where you can zip along a roller coaster,

Spin the wheel in a game of chance,

Or where there is always a corn dog,

Candied apple,

Or cinnamon sugar funnel cake waiting for you.

Where it is yours.

Be well.

Www.

Mooji.

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