Okay,
My friends,
So let us find a comfortable posture.
And I will,
Prior to ringing the bell to signal the start of this sit,
I am going to,
As I've done the last two weeks,
I'm going to read this excerpt here from Alan Watts that I believe neatly captures the spirit that I see in this practice.
So I'll read this short excerpt from Alan Watts,
And I'll immediately ring the bell and we'll move into sitting.
So find that comfortable posture.
So this is Alan Watts.
Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.
And therefore,
If you meditate for an ulterior motive,
That is to say to improve your mind,
To improve your character,
To be more efficient in life,
You've got your eye on the future and you are not meditating.
It's funny then,
Isn't it?
That one meditates for no reason at all,
Except we could say for the enjoyment of it.
And here I would interpose the essential principle that meditation is supposed to be fun.
Meditation,
When correctly done,
Is that kind of digging in the present.
It's a kind of grooving with the eternal now.
And it brings us into a state of peace where we can understand that the point of life,
The place where it's at,
Is simply here and now.
So,
As we begin this meditation,
See if you can allow yourself to be with whatever happens during this sit.
With no agenda,
Nowhere to go,
No thing to get.
So if the mind wants to think,
Let it think.
If it wants to wander,
Let it wander.
There's no right way or wrong way of doing nothing.
Simply because there is no right way or wrong way of being.
So let us practice in this way for a few moments,
Allowing whatever happens to happen.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
The poet John Wellwood says,
Sit down wherever you are and listen to the wind singing in your veins.
Feel the love,
The longing,
The fear in your bones.
Open your heart to who you are right now,
Not who you would like to be,
Not the saint you are striving to become,
But the being right here before you,
Inside you,
Around you.
All of you is holy.
You are already more and less than whatever you can know.
Breathe out,
Touch in,
Let go.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
Let's practice in this way for a few moments.
As we sit here being with whatever is,
We are just sitting here with whatever is.
Perhaps it is worth asking ourselves,
Who am I when there is no problem to solve,
Nowhere to go,
And nothing to do?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve,
Nowhere to go,
And nothing to do?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
And nothing happens,
Nothing,
Silence,
Waves.
Nothing happens,
Or has everything happened?
And are we standing now,
Quietly,
In the new life?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
The mind is like a vast,
Beautiful night sky,
And thoughts are like fireflies flickering in that night sky.
The mind is like a vast,
Beautiful night sky,
And thoughts are like fireflies flickering in the night sky.
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
Who am I when there's no problem to solve?
The author,
Bob Sharples,
Said,
Don't meditate to fix yourself,
To improve yourself,
To redeem yourself.
Rather,
Do it as an act of love,
Of deep,
Warm friendship to yourself.
In this way,
There is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement,
For the endless guilt of not doing enough.
It offers the possibility of an end to the ceaseless round of trying so hard that wraps so many people's lives in a knot.
Instead,
There is now meditation as an act of love,
How endlessly delightful and encouraging.
Thank you.
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In a few moments,
The bell will ring,
Signaling the end of this meditation.
And as we transition from more formal sitting to more playful daily life,
Perhaps we can once more find inspiration in the words of poet Martha Pausell White.
Do not try to save the world or do anything grandiose.
Instead,
Create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue.
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