Our Deepest Aspiration

Look deeply and let go of whatever may be hindering you. Joanne is a Dharma teacher in the Order of Interbeing, founded by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Transcript

So, Just to close, I would like to do a very short little guided meditation for you. So please get yourself comfortable. Okay. Breathing in, I'm aware I'm breathing in. Breathing out, I'm aware I'm breathing out. In, Out. Breathing in, I'm aware of my whole body and any tension in my body. Breathing out, I let go of all the tension in my body with every exhalation. Breathing in, I'm aware of all the emotions in my body. Breathing in, I'm aware of all the strengths of those ancestors, Blood and spiritual, The entire cosmos. Breathing out, I'm aware of the wisdom available to me in every cell of my body. The strengths and wisdom of my ancestors, The wisdom of eons of evolution in every cell of my body. Now please look deeply into your heart. What is your deepest aspiration for this one wild and precious lifetime? Once you've found your aspiration, Please look deeply. What are you doing in your daily life to create conditions for that to manifest? Please continue to look deeply. What are the obstacles in your path? What gets in the way of you realizing that aspiration? Is there anything hindering you? If so, What is it? Continuing to look deeply, Is there anything that you're doing to give energy to that obstacle? Whether it's in your thoughts, In talking about it, Or in actions. Please pay attention to how your body is feeling. Is there any tension anywhere in your body? Notice exactly where it is. Then bring awareness to what you would like to let go of. If there is something hindering you, If you are playing some part in nourishing that hindrance, What is it you would like to let go of? What does it feel like? What is it that keeps you holding on to the hindrance? Now envision yourself fully expressing your deepest aspiration. Fully realizing your deepest aspiration. What would that look like? How does it feel? Is there any tension anywhere in your body when you envision that? Bring your awareness to any tension. Give it your full attention. And feel at ease. And then bring your awareness back to your breath. Your in breath, Your out breath. All of those strengths. All of that wisdom. Rest for a moment in the awareness of your basic goodness. And then So dear friends, It's just a guided practice for what we generally do. Most of us, I don't think very often consider, What is my focused aspiration? What do I want to do with this one precious life? We're too busy doing the laundry or getting breakfast or running errands or doing whatever we're doing. So every once in a while it's really a good thing to stop and consider. What do I want to do with this one wild and precious life? And am I doing it? If not, What's getting in the way? And it's not an exercise to feel guilty and horrible and bad. Oh, I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing here. It's to inform us, Is there any little change I can make? If I am, Is there something, Some part I'm playing in creating obstacles on my own path? Are there things I can let go of that could free up some space for that to be realized? The feedback is what we get from mindfulness. When we can use the energy of mindfulness to focus, Like I said, To me it's like alchemy led to gold. And so to end today, I would hope to do something that I'm not sure I can. We're talking about impermanence, Impermanence as a motivator. One of the things we know from Thich Nhat Hanh and from the Buddha is that there is no birth and death. Thich Nhat Hanh gave a 21 day retreat last year and the topic of the retreat, The title of the retreat is What Happens When We Die. So people flocked to Plum Village from all over the world and the first Dharmatak he gave he said, You've all come to hear about what happens when you die. The answer is you don't. There's no birth and no death. We're continuing. We're a continuation that anybody who's touched us in our lifetime has left a mark in our consciousness. We're alive in everybody we've touched. This is what he tells us all the time. People would say to him, Well what's going to happen if you die? And he'd say, What do you mean if? Haven't you been listening to a word I said? He doesn't say that part. He said it's impossible. I've already, I've been continuing since the moment I was born. Every person I've ever touched is my continuation. He's touched people with the books he's written, With the talks he's given, With you don't ever have had to meet him or have tea with Thich Nhat Hanh. He can be alive in every cell of your body and he is if you've been deeply touched by his teachings. So he's continuing beautifully. I heard a wonderful talk he gave about Martin Luther King in New York City and he said that he and Dr. King were very good friends that they had this burning fire in their hearts to build a beloved community. They both shared that volition. And he said, I've had that fire in my heart since I was 16 and it's still there. And he said, People think that Martin Luther King got killed. He said Martin Luther King is much more alive now than he ever was when I knew him. This is what we're up to. And so this to me is such a wonderful teaching that it's like, And he talks about, He said, When I die, Don't go running around the world looking for a little boy with big ears. It won't be me. He said I might be the little yellow flower. I might be the cloud. I'll be everywhere. I'll be a part of everything that is. Never dies. We just keep going in different forms.

Reviews

I can’t really explain but I really connected with and enjoyed that meditation. And the message at the end, beautiful. The meditation was gentle and powerful. I really liked the ambience created by the live recording. Thank you.

True - short guided mediation and a talk. Appreciated the message.

Invites reflection on one's deepest aspiration in life.

Very Nice talk ! Especially the last two minutes!!

Gets right to the heart of thinking about our impediments to our aspirations.