What if it was the case that we were preparing to sit here forever?
How would we compose the body?
How would we compose the mind?
I once heard someone talk about being in a Zen monastery where the most advanced monks took the longest to get into the meditation posture,
But then could stay completely still for a very long time.
Sometimes I think about that when orienting the body for practice.
It's kind of a mini yoga session that goes on where I'm balancing my frame,
Rocking,
Stretching,
Feeling the contact with the ground,
The seat,
Making it particularly stable,
Feeling the connection down through the earth,
And then moving the attention gradually up the body,
Up the vertebrae,
One by one,
Perfectly stacked,
The top of the head lifted to the heavens.
And when the bones are upright and balanced,
Allowing the flesh to relax around that structure,
Establishing the balance between alertness and ease.
And if we are to stay here forever,
We'll need some sustenance.
In the metaphor of the fortress,
Concentration is the food for the people of the fortress,
So they might withstand the siege.
And we can use,
For our concentration,
Various objects like the breath,
Areas of the body,
The whole body.
You can also become concentrated through the cultivation of goodwill.
Let's begin there today,
Looking into ourselves,
Connecting with that which brought us to the practice,
The wish for well-being,
Looking for that which is true and good,
Any degree to which you can sense that wish for goodness,
Wish for well-being.
Let the mind stay there,
Let the mind rest there,
Let the mind be nourished there.
And then considering other beings,
Maybe beginning with benefactors,
Anyone with whom you have an uncomplicated relationship,
Someone who you can picture looking at you with kind eyes,
Feel the goodwill coming back to you,
Feel the goodwill going out from you.
Try to sense the feeling beyond the concept,
Sense into that feeling for the aspect of it which really shows us that it's something that makes sense to be wished for,
For all beings.
It's a wish,
A feeling,
Worthy of being shared above,
Below,
And all around.
To the farthest reaches of the cosmos,
Even for those who are difficult in this world,
That's where our goodwill turns into compassion.
And those who are thriving,
Allow your goodwill to turn to joy,
That which is beyond our control.
Allow there to be equanimity,
Letting your undisturbed peace radiate.
It's the interplay of these that allows the possibility for expansion,
The truly open,
Expanded mind,
The infinite sense of each.
So when we're sensing our breath,
Pair your awareness with goodwill,
The wish for well-being,
It rides along with any projection of our attention.
We adorn the luminous mind with this goodwill when we send it out into the body,
Seeing the shape of the breath,
Inclining the mind toward that which is nourishing,
Refreshing,
Opening to a full sense of the body as a whole.
Breathing in,
I sense the whole body.
Breathing out,
I sense the entire body.
Letting the breath be like a salve,
We can apply the breath in line with the needs of the body.
What would I do to maintain this posture forever,
Sustained by goodwill,
Sustained by the breath?
I encounter pain and I apply the salve of the breath and compassion.
I encounter joy and I rejoice.
I spread the breath of celebration,
Sustenance.
I encounter unresolvable hardship and I expand the energy of the breath.
I make my mind like a great river,
Impossible to taint,
Flowing,
Nourishing,
Vast.
