This is a meditation or contemplation for cultivating an abiding sense of reverence.
Part of the practice of appreciating is this practice of cultivating unconditional or radical reverence for all that is.
It's a really great practice for cultivating appreciation throughout your day and especially as you experience any type of pain.
So let's begin.
Using your presence practice,
Get still and present.
Let yourself sit in an upright,
Alert,
Comfortable position.
Anchor on your breath.
Let the mind quiet as much as it will.
Now smile slightly to encourage a sense of warmth and receptivity.
Now attend to what is arising in consciousness,
But take on a purposefully kind and gentle attitude.
Be receptive and acknowledging and allowing of your painful experience.
Let it come,
Let it be,
And let it go.
Affirm to yourself,
This belongs or this is sacred.
Or if that's too much,
You might just say,
This is as it must and can only be in this moment.
Now say a profound yes to your experience,
To life just as it is in this moment,
No matter how painful,
No matter what,
To whatever is arising.
Meet it with a humble acknowledgement of its necessity in this moment.
Say yes to everything,
Including any judgments that may be arising in your consciousness or any aversion that you might have to your experience.
Say yes to any feelings rooted in hatred or rage or anger toward yourself or others.
Say yes to it all,
Renouncing any judgment or rejection of your circumstances,
Of others or of your experience.
In this practice,
You are renouncing judging,
The natural judging that arises in your mind as well as any other unwholesome states.
Practice this as a humble act of worship for the reality of this moment exactly as it is.
Let pain be and belong.
Let pain be just as it is.
Affirm its necessity in this moment.
Embrace it as an essential part of the sacred whole of things.
Make this practice a moment-to-moment life habit.
You won't be 100% present and consistent with it immediately.
See how many times you can catch yourself in negative judgments of reality or rather your brain's construction of reality.
Note that you are picking a fight with what is and return to this simple practice over and over.
As you get this under your belt,
You will be able to condense this practice to the simple phrase,
This is sacred,
Or this is as it must and can only be.
This is a very powerful practice.
It cultivates an open,
Loving,
Accepting heart.
It cultivates equanimity.
It dissolves the suffering of negatively judging reality or God,
If you like.
It also positions you to respond intelligently with love rather than to react out of hatred and aversion.
Ironically,
You will be much more effective at triggering positive change with this practice than with judgment and aversion.
This practice allows you to endure the necessary pain rather than avoid pain,
Thereby allowing for a metabolism and processing and healing of pain.
One poem I love really speaks to this practice with a reverent,
Humble,
And surrendered attitude.
It is called,
Prayer by Galway Connell and it goes like this,
Whatever happens,
Whatever,
What is,
Is,
Is what I want.
Only that,
But that.
This prayer is a beautiful practice for cultivating our reverence for reality exactly as it is apart from our preferences,
Our pain,
And our dislikes.
As you engage in this practice,
You will gradually notice the cultivation of what I call radical reverence or unconditional love for yourself,
For reality,
And for existence.
