So let's close our eyes.
Notice the first thing,
The first thing that is of this silence that engulfs you.
In between my words,
The same space that you were a part of.
Talking to each other,
Thinking,
Laughing,
Celebrating.
And once you take a pause,
The silence is there.
It was always there and it is always there,
Will be there for us to access if we need it.
The flavor of this meditation is very different.
Normally we think of meditation,
We think of a practice,
We think of getting better at meditation.
Do you really want to get better at meditation or do you want to get better at living,
Get better at relationships in your business,
In your work or get better at being peaceful?
And what helps you become better at living is wisdom.
What I mean by that is,
Let's do a little thought experiment.
Let's go back in time when we thought Santa Claus was real.
Until one day,
You may not even remember when and how,
But you saw something and saw something so clearly that you became wiser,
You understood,
You got the joke about Santa Claus not being real.
You don't have to practice anything.
You don't have to negotiate with yourself.
You don't have to convince yourself.
You don't have to do research,
Buy new clothes,
Get new shoes to convince yourself.
It was instantaneous.
That is the power of insight and it's not a temporary thing.
If so,
Ask yourself,
Would I believe in Santa Claus now?
What needs to happen for me to believe in Santa Claus?
Or was that one seeing,
A clear seeing enough to burn through the ignorance of untruth?
You can still play along,
But the story of Santa Claus is no longer personal.
It doesn't affect you.
Just like that,
This flavor of meditation might trigger some clear seeing that will cut through you and go to your heart,
Or it might sow a seed in your heart that might sprout whenever it's right time.
And just like you can't force a seed to grow or a flower to blossom,
These things have their own mysterious ways of working.
The only thing we can do is what you are doing right now,
Is A,
Being present,
And B,
Being open.
Being present to your experience of what is being said,
What is being seen,
And being open for it to reach your heart.
Unfortunately,
Thinking has no space here,
At least today.
This is an artist's house.
It either touches you or it doesn't.
You can't reason with art,
And these are matters of heart.
You can't reason with them.
You might fall in love with yourself.
We've all fallen in love with someone else,
But we'd need reasons to love ourselves.
We love our spouses,
We love our kids,
Despite all the reasons.
But somehow,
We change the rules of the game for ourselves.
And not falling in love with ourselves is not an option.
However,
You might want to know yourself before you fall in love with yourself.
By know,
I don't mean judge.
I'm sure all of us work so hard in our areas,
Where we are constantly fighting to make a mark for ourselves.
Be seen,
Be heard.
Some of us have to fight double hard for equality,
For justice.
But that's for the outside world.
You don't have to fight with yourself.
You just have to know yourself.
Get to know yourself.
Listen.
Listen to what is coming up within you,
For you.
And don't give reasons,
Because there's no one else.
Whatever is coming up,
That is it.
No apologies,
No justification,
No negotiation.
The innate intelligence in you gets triggered when it sees something that needs to be upgraded.
You don't have to write down all your flaws.
You just have to be present and open.
That's it.
If you're overwhelmed,
See that it is coming up.
Maybe the reason for why you're overwhelmed might also show up.
And you can do something about it.
That's your innate intelligence.
But there's nothing personal there.
It's a problem.
And we see the cause of the problem.
So we work on it.
That doesn't make anyone bad.
So at any point of time,
There is doubt.
Doubt about you,
Not your capability.
Not your capabilities.
Not your skill set.
But you.
There is judgment about you,
Not your capabilities,
Skill set.
Those need to be seen.
Seen clearly.
That you are not your work.
You are not your skill set.
Or lack thereof.
There is doubt.
Is that doubt about you?
Or your skill set?
Because you can do something about your skill set.
You can't do anything about you.
You can improve your health.
You can improve your skill set,
Mindset,
Habits.
But what are you going to do about you?
This might feel a little abstract.
But some of us,
Some of you,
Are mothers here.
Think of your child.
They might be driving you crazy.
You want to change their behavior.
But you don't want to change them.
Because you love them.
You want them to be healthy,
Educated.
Think about it.
When was the last time as a mother you sat down and strategized,
How can I change my son or my daughter?
Even saying it makes it sound so absurd.
Then why do you entertain any judgments and doubts about yourself?
We are very harsh with ourselves.
And on days when we are nice to ourselves,
It's because we have deserved it.
Somehow we have achieved something to deserve us being nice to ourselves.
I don't want to tell you what is,
What you should do or what you shouldn't.
I'm just trying to share what I see.
Hopefully you see it.
Hopefully you ask yourself whatever you need to ask yourself to convince if the analogy of your child and you didn't cut through to your heart.
Maybe ask yourself,
Why am I so harsh with myself?
And by harsh,
I don't mean you shouldn't work hard.
Working hard and being harsh are two different things.
It's like we've all heard of everyone has a love language.
And we are focused on our love language.
Maybe go to a spa,
Get a manicure,
Pedicure,
Watch a movie.
That's our way of showing ourselves love.
That's our love language.
But you know that if you don't have anything good to say,
That language is useless.
So for love language to be meaningful,
Where is the love?
Sometimes love is just taking a pause,
Closing your eyes,
Being okay with whatever is happening,
Not fighting.
Sometimes it is going for a run,
Having fun while doing hard things.
And the thing about fun is it can always serve as a good cornerstone or a milestone.
If you have to convince yourself it's not fun.
If you're having fun,
You're probably very close to love,
Either with someone else or yourself.
Fun can't be contrived.
It leaves its own breadcrumbs.
You either are having fun or not.
And if you're having fun,
Then check.
You may never find judgment,
Harshness.
It just doesn't coexist.
As I said,
You might fall in love with yourself.
And once you fall in love,
It's next to impossible to fall out of love.
Everything you do comes from that place.
And I don't need to tell you what happens when things come out of love.
Everything becomes an offering.
Our words,
Our actions,
They're all so clear,
Thoughtful.
As I said,
Not falling in love is not an option either.
It's only a matter of when,
Not if.
Thank you.
