Hi there,
I wonder what you think of when you think of prayer because you're listening,
You'll have a relationship of some kind with it that made you explore this I guess In the words of Thich Nhat Hanh,
The Buddhist monk and peace activist when you drink your tea with concentration you perform a sacred ritual and that is a prayer Mother Teresa,
Prayer is not asking it is listening to life from the depth of her heart I felt this week in response to England moving from lockdown into something more of a social life to write something to keep in my heart a sense of reverence that I feel has grown new leaves in this time of lockdown I like garden metaphors the leaves here come I feel from the attention that's been possible with the time and space that's opened up and these leaves have grown also from the grief and also the hope that my roots have reached for during these last few months I like the idea that in contemplative practice of growing leaves that bring light and then flowers come and what could those flowers be?
Insight into an area of our life inspiration of what to do,
Where to go maybe tears also of healing and release these openings or flowerings,
These moments I feel are significant in our growth so to support contemplative practice at this time I decided to offer a prayer for the pandemic so if you find a comfortable place and I will light a candle you might like to do the same I'll give you a moment to settle in your seated position you can also lie down to do this I'm lighting my candle beside my meditation cushion I close my eyes and I feel my body I feel this moment my breath my weight and my shape so calming my body and then for three breaths about 30 seconds I'm gonna hold myself with the love I wish to see in the world that present steady love or however you might like to describe it okay so take those three breaths now in and out together so we breathe in deeply into the belly that's what I'm doing and then just allowing the breath to be there for a moment and then releasing the out breath slowly three times holding that contemplation and calming the body okay I should try together here we go okay and then coming back to stillness letting go of that that prayer or that contemplation feeling the mind not to forget it at all but just to allow our minds again to be clear and there's two more stages of this contemplation and then to those who I know locally and internationally friends associates people who you know their name and I'm gonna choose a few to represent them all my circle so to speak my community and I'm gonna hold them in the love that I wish to see in the world a forgiving love and embracing love I can however you you wish to describe that okay again three breaths about 30 seconds to hold that in my heart okay and then back into stillness again and then we have the third stage they're just feeling your body feeling the moment until you're at the third stage so where that at this time many are feeling the passing of friends and relatives due to the coronavirus and holding them and their suffering in my heart as the world moves from a lockdown for now into something more of a social life bringing them into my heart and by doing that together into the heart of a shared human family which is as real and as broad as I wish it to be at least it starts there I believe so together we'll take three slow deep breaths in and out together because we hold them in our hearts okay and then coming back to stillness body in the breath and I'm gonna sing a song now and there's a song called Go As A River and it's about spiritual friendship and I learned it from living in Plum Village which is where Tignan had I mentioned before the monastic village that's present in a few continents but it's within France and it's a song that is written I believe by one of the monastics it doesn't have a name but it's sung alongside other other songs in the village and this is called Go As A River and I appreciate having the opportunity to do this practice with you in the coming weeks there'll be more guided meditations and contemplations on social themes and coming back to the present taking care of the body and taking care of emotion I wish you best for the rest of your day however long is left I want to go as a river not as a drop of water learn to live mindfully and be there for each other I want to go as a river not as a drop of water learn to live mindfully in peace love and harmony friends in streams of spirituality how wonderful to be able to see we are all water we are all water we are all water we are all water I want to go as a river not as a drop of water learn to live mindfully and be there for each other I want to go as a river not as a drop of water learn to live mindfully in peace love and harmony friends in streams of spirituality how wonderful to be able to see we are all water we are all water we are all water we are all water how wonderful to be able to see we are all water we are all water So don't forget,
Join us for the pagespins and then we'll talk to you guys then naturally.
You
