So,
What we have for you today,
Or what I have for you today is I've been thinking about,
I wanted to share with you a,
Just what I found to be a most wonderful and helpful affirmation from Paramahansa Yogananda,
That I've been actually starting my meditations with,
Starting my morning practice with,
Even starting my mornings with,
And using throughout the day.
So,
I'm going to let you know what it is,
Let you hear it,
And then we'll use it during the last phase,
After we practice our technique,
Our meditation technique,
Toward the end in our last phase,
We'll bring it back in and practice with it a little bit.
And so what that is,
And I'll invite you just for this moment now to go ahead and close your eyes.
Just close your eyes gently,
And take a nice deep breath into your belly,
And exhale.
Let your breath flow naturally,
If you're inclined to direct that breath into your belly,
That'll be good.
And as you just tune into this affirmation,
Which goes,
I will go forth in perfect faith,
In the power of omnipresent good,
To bring me what I need at the time I need it.
And so,
Always with an affirmation,
There has to be some degree of truth that we can grab onto.
Otherwise,
It just feels like wishful thinking,
And it's not a helpful or powerful practice,
Which affirmation can be.
So if we just kind of take that apart a little bit,
Because I've been having,
I had a conversation with my daughter who's away at college the other day,
And I found myself thinking about this affirmation,
And a friend who's going through a challenging time,
And then just thinking about all the things that we want,
What our preferences are,
In any given moment,
What we're wanting.
So if I think I will go forth in perfect faith,
So this affirmation is about trust,
In the power of omnipresent good,
And I love that omnipresent good.
On the one hand,
It doesn't use the word God,
Or the divine,
Or the universe,
Or any other number of terms that can,
I don't know,
Trigger certain people to have certain thoughts and reactions to them,
It's omnipresent good.
Just the pure goodness that is always here,
And completely surrounds us,
And is completely within us,
The power of omnipresent good.
So it's a strong affirmation,
To bring me what I need,
At the time I need it.
And that,
So that goes both ways.
As far as our desires,
We all desire all kinds of things,
To bring me what I need.
We think we know what we need,
But we really don't,
We know what we want.
And so there is this power of omnipresent good that does know what we need.
And so we can go,
Think of the freedom,
The contentment,
With which we can go through a day,
If we have trust that we'll be given what we need,
At the time that we need it.
And on the other side of that,
We have so many preferences about the way things should be,
Or the way we want things to be.
And so if something is happening in our life,
In any given moment,
That we prefer weren't happening,
We can think of this,
In perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good,
To bring me what I need,
At the time I need it.
So this is happening,
I might prefer that it wasn't,
But I must need it.
I must need it in some way,
For my highest good.
It can really shift us.
So we're going to practice with this a little bit.
But let's just start with a bit more of this.
Let's relax into this a little bit.
So take an intentional inhale into your belly.
And exhale.
Good.
And just let the breath flow naturally now,
However it wants to.
If your eyes aren't already closed,
Go ahead and close them gently.
Eyelids soft.
Eyes soft behind the eyelids.
Relax your face.
Relax your jaw.
Allow your tongue to fall away from the roof of your mouth.
Gently lift your chest.
Gently draw your shoulder blades together,
So you're sitting up with a nice straight spine,
But without tension.
Chin is parallel to the floor.
And begin to notice your breath.
You may first notice it just mechanically happening in your belly or your chest.
See if you can begin to notice the air passing in your nostrils.
And let that be your point of focus.
Sometimes the edges of your nostrils is the easiest place to first start to feel the breath.
So maybe you can start there.
And then see if you can notice your breath a little bit higher in the nose.
Tune into the spot in your nostrils.
The highest spot in your nostrils where you can feel the breath,
Where you can tune in to your breath.
And watch it there.
Just allow the breath to flow naturally.
Notice it.
And let yourself be highly interested in your breath.
Concentrate.
Now you can begin with the Hong Sa mantra.
When you notice yourself,
Inhale.
Say just in your mind,
Without moving your tongue,
Lips or teeth,
Hong.
H-O-N-G,
Hong.
And when you notice yourself,
Exhale.
Say in your mind,
Saw.
Like a saw that you use to cut wood.
S-A-U.
Hong Sa.
It's an ancient Sanskrit mantra.
It translates to I am he.
But you don't need to tune into the meaning of the mantra.
Just allow your mind to say it over and over again.
Sending a peaceful vibration throughout your being as you repeat the mantra.
And let it help you concentrate.
Hong on the inhale.
Saw.
When you notice yourself,
Exhale.
Now add the third component,
The movement of your right index finger.
Palms facing up at the juncture of thighs and abdomen.
When you notice yourself,
Inhale.
And you say in your mind,
Hong.
Gently curl your right index finger towards your palm.
And when you notice yourself,
Exhale.
And you say in your mind,
Saw.
Allow that finger to relax back out.
Hong on the inhale.
Curl the finger.
Saw on the exhale.
Extend the finger back out.
This movement gives your body something to do.
It helps to concentrate.
And as the breath grows more subtle and quiet,
The movement of the finger can actually help you distinguish between the inhale and the exhale.
Continue your practice of Hong,
Saw.
When you notice your mind wander,
Gently but firmly,
Come back to your breath and your mantra.
Don't use the mantra to control the breath.
Simply accompany the natural breath with the mantra.
Good.
Now,
Take an intentional inhale through the nose.
And a triple exhale through mouth and nose.
Let the breath stay out for as long as it wants to.
And when it wants to return,
Allow it to do so.
And you can let go of the technique.
You don't need to watch your breath anymore.
You don't need to repeat the mantra or move the finger anymore.
Behind your closed eyelids,
Gently uplift your gaze toward the point between your eyebrows.
It's a gentle uplifted gaze,
No straining.
As if you are gazing off at distant treetops.
And as you concentrate at the point between the eyebrows,
Your spiritual eye,
Your point of higher awareness,
Point of joy,
Of wisdom and of peace,
Tune in to this affirmation by Paramahansa Yogananda.
I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
If you like,
In your mind,
Allow yourself to repeat after me as I say the mantra.
I will go forth in perfect faith in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
Now in your mind,
Right along with me,
I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
Allowing yourself to tune into the feeling behind the words I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
I will go forth in perfect faith in the power of omnipresent good to bring me what I need at the time I need it.
I will go forth in perfect faith Letting the words of the affirmation go.
Staying with the feeling.
Allowing yourself to spend just a few more moments at the point between your eyebrows in this place and now take a normal breath in and out.
Prepare to come back to the space where you are.
And when you're ready,
Flutter open your eyes.
