Do everything with a mind that lets go.
Don't accept praise or gain or anything else.
If you let go a little,
You'll have a little peace.
If you let go a lot,
You'll have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely,
You'll have complete peace.
That was a quote by Ajahn Chah.
I'm going to give a talk but I'd like the talk to be a reflective talk.
I'd like you if you can to come to a seated posture and close your eyes.
This will help you to reflect on what I'm saying.
If you can bring your mind to your breath,
That will help further.
It will keep you present to the talk.
The great Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah said,
Everything is teaching us.
The other morning,
A bumblebee taught me a great lesson.
It's been unusually hot here in the UK,
So it makes sense to open the windows.
The downside of this is that lots of insects become trapped in our homes,
Helplessly crashing into the windows over and over in a vain attempt at freedom.
Being the kind person I am,
I rescue these doomed little creatures to the best of my ability.
The other day,
This benevolence paid off.
Risking being stung,
I grabbed a sheet of paper and offered it to a stressed out bumblebee.
The bee wouldn't entertain the paper and just kept moving out of the way.
Here was his ticket to freedom,
But unfortunately he didn't know that.
What was good was perceived as an attack.
Eventually the bee crawled onto the paper and I hung him out of the window.
But the bee refused to let go.
He clung to the paper for dear life.
I shook the paper and the bee fell into the sky and flew out to his freedom.
And it had me thinking.
Life has us crashing into window panes.
Windows that look like complete freedom,
But we only end up bruising ourselves against them.
Some people see this and accept this hand,
This paper that's offered to them.
And accepting the paper,
Just like the bee,
Some people refuse to let go.
Letting go,
Some people spread their wings to complete freedom.
So I'll return to that quote from Ajahn Chah.
Do everything with a mind that lets go.
Don't accept praise or gain or anything else.
If you let go a little,
You will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot,
You will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely,
You will have complete peace.
So if you've had your eyes closed,
Open your eyes and take that reflection with you,
Wishing you a wonderful day.
