Let's begin by finding a posture that signals to your heart and mind The intention.
To turn your attention inward.
And to rest in stillness and awareness.
I trust each of you to find the posture that works for you.
You're in many different time zones with different levels of energy and some of you.
It will be helpful to relax and some of you perhaps to sit up straighter.
Some of you to support your back,
Some of you to sit forward.
So take a moment to find your sweet spot.
And to choose either to close your eyes or lower your gaze.
And begin with three deep diaphragmatic breaths.
As you inhale.
Imagine filling the whole torso with the in-breath.
Like filling a vessel with water all the way up to your collarbones.
And taking even more time with the out breath to fully empty the torso of the breath.
And repeating this for two more cycles of in-breaths and out-breaths.
After your third out breath.
Release any control of the breath.
Settle into your body,
Into the present moment.
And allow the breath to find its own natural rhythm.
As we begin this practice.
Bringing a gentle and easy attitude towards the mind especially.
When it naturally wanders.
Escort it back with a smile.
To the simple sensations of the breath and the body.
Emphasizing ease.
Inviting.
The mind and body to settle.
Rather than a striving.
For consistent attention.
Gently coming back to the breath.
Wherever it's most predominant in the body.
You might have a habit or a practice of feeling the breath in the belly.
The rise and fall of the belly or the chest.
Or the air as it moves in and out of your nostrils.
Or perhaps you notice the whole cycle of the breath.
Find what feels comfortable,
Familiar,
Accessible.
Feel the in-breath and the out-breath.
And just for fun.
See if you can notice the space between the breaths.
The naturally occurring moments of equipoise.
Unforced.
Organic.
Between contraction and expansion.
Just like the rest of nature.
Expanding,
Contracting.
And balance,
Brief moments of balance in between incessant processes of expansion and contraction.
Natural.
Feeling.
These natural changes and occurrences.
As part of nature.
Your breath mirroring the expansion and contraction happening at every level of nature all around you.
Being a part of that.
And the brief fleeting moments of balance in between.
I'm checking in to see if you can find and intention.
That feels genuine around equanimity.
Experimenting with these phrases and see if they feel true to you.
May I be open.
Balanced,
And at peace.
May my heart find rest and balance in the midst of all things.
And then checking in with the following phrases and see if they feel true to you.
Things are just as they are.
All things are impermanent.
Feelings arise and pass away.
We'll try repeating these phrases.
Connecting with them as best you can.
Perhaps feeling some of the implications they may hold.
For what preoccupies you in this moment.
Things are just as they are.
All things are impermanent.
Feelings arise and pass away.
I am safe in this moment.
Coming back to the simplicity of the breath.
Letting the heart,
The mind and the body settle more and more into the stillness the ease.
Of not fighting the present moment,
Of relaxing into it as best you can.
And now reflecting for a moment.
On the reality.
Of how much our own happiness and suffering are the result of our thoughts,
Actions,
And circumstances and not what others wish for us.
We can have partners who love us,
Friends,
Parents,
But ultimately,
We're responsible for our own happiness and well-being.
This is also true for our loved ones.
Loving others inevitably opens us to feelings of helplessness when our loved ones suffer And we all know,
No matter how fortunate their lives,
There will be periods of pain for everyone.
So now reflecting on this idea that all beings,
We're all the recipients of our own choices,
Our actions,
Our circumstances,
And while we can deeply love and care for others,
In the end,
Their happiness and suffering.
Depend more on their thoughts?
Actions and circumstances than our wishes for them.
Equanimity practice recognizes this reality.
Without forsaking love.
So now bringing to mind someone you love who's going through some difficulty.
And given the moment,
The circumstances you find yourself in,
Choose a situation that doesn't overwhelm you.
And feel into the following phrases.
As you hold this person.
In your mind's eye and see them through the eyes of the heart.
Your happiness and suffering depend on your thoughts,
Actions,
And circumstances.
And not on my wishes for you.
Recognizing this,
I will continue to wish for your happiness.
And for you to understand the deepest sources of your own happiness.
I will care for you,
But I cannot keep you from suffering.
Knowing and accepting the limits of what you can do for this loved one.
Silently repeating the following phrases,
Feeling free to adjust the language so it works for you.
May you be happy.
And have access.
To the deepest causes of your own happiness.
May you be balanced and peaceful.
May you find true equanimity.
Allowing your heart to be touched by whatever poignancy you experience.
As you imagine your loved one free from suffering.
While fully recognizing the limits of what you can and cannot do.
Perhaps refreshing the image of your loved one as you offer them the same wishes.
May you be happy.
And have access to the deepest causes of your own happiness.
May you be balanced and peaceful.
May you find true equanimity.
And now imagine expanding this field of equanimity beyond your loved one.
This field.
From your heart.
From the love that's balanced by the wisdom of equanimity.
To include not just your loved one,
But yourself.
And all beings.
May I find balance.
Equanimity and peace amidst it all.
In the middle of everything.
May all beings live in balance.
And in peace.
Now releasing the words and images.
Coming back to the simple sensations of the breath in the body.
Relaxing into the rhythm of expansion and contraction.
And savoring.
The natural point of balance between the two.
I like to read a poem often to close a guided meditation.
And I plan to do that this evening.
And then I remembered that an old friend of mine,
Some of you may know Betsy Rose,
A singer,
Songwriter,
And dharma teacher in the Bay Area,
Had actually put this poem to music.
Betsy and I,
Our kids went to the same preschool in Berkeley.
And as you sit in the last few minutes of this meditation,
I invite you to listen to the words of Khalil Gibran.
Put to music.
By Betsy Rose.
It's a poem about equanimity.
This is on an album that was actually an ode,
The whole album was an ode to this preschool that was quite wonderful called Heart of a Child.
Um.
.
.
So here's Betsy singing the words of Khalil Gibran and I hope this works for the last few minutes of our practice.
See ya,
Children!
I'm not your children.
They are the sons and the daughters of life's longing for itself.
They come through you.
We are not.
Though they are with you,
They belong not to you.
You can give them your love,
But not your fault.
They have their own.
They have their own.
You can house their bodies,
But not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the place of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit,
Not even in your dreams.
You can strive to be like them,
But you cannot make them just like you.
Strive to be like them,
But you cannot make them just like you.
Part two later.
Are not our children.
They are the sons and the daughters of life's longing for itself.
They come through us,
But they are not from us.
And though they are with me They belong not to you.
We can give them our love.
They have their own.
They have their own.
We can house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in you.
Tomorrow.
Which we cannot be.
Not even in our dreams.
We can strive to be like them,
But we cannot make them just like us.
Strive to be like them,
But we cannot make them just like us.
