Establishing A Daily Practice

We'll begin with a little bit of just getting ourselves settled in our space.

We'll do a very short body scan.

And then we will do a little bit of meditative stabilization.

So let's just take a moment to bring ourselves into the space.

You've got yourself set in a chair or on the floor on a cushion.

And appreciating that you have put aside the time in your life to do this is wonderful.

So really appreciate your efforts,

Prioritizing spiritual practice is very important in your life.

And so to be able to make sure that the body is cooperating with our meditation today,

We're going to want to make sure that we're sitting with our spine straight yet relaxed.

Hands are in your lap,

Palms on top of one another with the thumbs touching down below your belly.

Eyes are almost closed.

You don't have to be focusing on anything down on the floor,

But enough to keep some light in.

The chin is gently tucked just a little bit,

Shoulders are level.

The tongue rests naturally behind the upper palate up there at the top of the roof of the mouth.

Just get a sense of being an embodied being.

The body and the mind coexisting.

And in dependence upon that body and mind,

We label ourselves.

And so just be present to get a sense of the interdependence of that body and mind.

And then just check and see,

We'll do a very quick gentle body scan to make sure that there's no place in the body that's tight or has got some pain that may distract or be too uncomfortable to be able to sit still.

And what this is,

We just go through the body and we use our mind,

Our attention,

Our awareness,

But as we do scan the body,

If there's any place that needs some attention,

We bring that awareness to it.

And with our imagination,

Really get a sense that that kind attention is loosening,

Softening,

Unwinding,

Whatever is tight,

Uncomfortable,

Not feeling well today.

So let's start down at the bottom of our feet,

Gently moving up the legs,

Up to the thighs,

The hips,

And then to the belly.

Sometimes the belly holds anxiety or discomfort,

So check in with your belly.

Then gently up the trunk,

All the organs inside the trunk of the body,

The heart,

The lungs,

Adrenals,

Liver,

Bladder,

All working in sync.

If there's anything in there that's not feeling well,

Then bring your attention once again to that place.

Then connect with your spine.

Imagine that there is a thread that comes out the crown of your head and that there is someone gently tugging on that to elongate the discs,

Bring some space.

Then up to the shoulders,

Down the arms,

All the way to your fingertips.

Then back up,

Up to the neck,

And then bring your attention to your head.

It is through the eyes,

The nose,

The ears,

That we receive a lot of information from the world outside.

So check your brow,

Check your eyes,

Your jaw.

We also speak.

Anything that's tight furrowed.

And then up to the very crown of the head.

Then do a body scan,

Just kind of go around the skull with your inner eye.

And then gently from the crown of your head all the way down to your toes,

One gentle overall body scan.

And then for about a minute here we're going to just bring that attention to the breath.

And to try to find your natural rhythm,

The breath really does give us some information about the state of our minds and hearts.

So try to find your natural rhythm,

Put down whatever cares,

Concerns you may have,

And bring your attention totally to the inhalation and the exhalation of your breath,

Either at your belly,

Which is much more noticeable than at the tip of your nostrils.

Find a place and just stay there.

And just appreciate that simple inhalation,

Exhalation of the breath.

And as much as your mind may want to wander into the past or the future,

Gently bring it back.

What we want to do here is just to keep our mind just on one object,

Not wandering around the universe,

To provide some stability and some clarity to our minds.

So now we're going to take a moment to set our motivation before we do our analytical meditation.

We are living in a very difficult time right now.

Many people are fearful,

Angry,

And confused,

Yet many others are courageous,

Compassionate,

And wise.

And although we do not have much control over the present external circumstances,

We do have some say about how we respond to them.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said many times that it is helpful to bring a bigger perspective to a situation,

To ease some of the concern and angst that can arise.

A bigger perspective allows us to see how everyone is impacted on what is going on in the world right now.

And no matter how it may appear,

As His Holiness has also said many times,

That each and every one of us without exception wants nothing more than to be happy and not to suffer.

And many times we think we are creating the causes for our happiness,

Whatever that is for each of us,

When in fact we are running right towards creating the causes that will bring us suffering.

All of us do this.

And so the way in which we can enlarge our perspective is to look at the world through these two understandings,

These two deep truths of His statements,

And to be able to turn inward to help that,

To really touch into our good hearts that have the deep wish for everyone to have food on their table,

To have good health,

To have fair wages,

Respect,

A sense of safety,

And an equal opportunity to fulfill their deepest wishes,

And above all to have peace and a sense of well-being.

So may our time together today help us to open our minds to the wisdom and compassion that the Buddha teachings bring,

And by extension may that wisdom and compassion grow in our minds and hearts,

Not only to be able to benefit sentient beings in regards to temporal happiness,

But to attain awakening in order to be of the greatest benefit to each and every living being.

Let's really bring that into our hearts.

So to segue from this motivation into some open-ended questions on trying to put together a daily spiritual practice in our lives,

As I wanted to put out some open-ended questions that might support that endeavor.

So these are open-ended just,

You know,

As I say them out loud,

Just see what comes up for yourself,

Deeply connecting to your own experience,

To your deepest wishes.

And so for the first question is,

What does it mean to you to live a meaningful life?

When you hear those words,

Meaningful life,

What images arise for you?

Thank you very much.

And then when thinking about what that meaningful life means to you,

Try to come up with,

Let's say,

Two or three spiritual or virtuous qualities you find that can enhance,

Nurture that meaningful life of yours.

What would be necessary qualities for you to have that meaningful life that you so much want inside yourself?

Not talking about external situations.

What would you bring to that life,

This life of yours,

That would be necessary?

What would you bring to that life,

This life of yours,

That would be necessary?

And then the third question isn't to invite judgment or self-criticism,

But mostly to just kind of get a perspective on where you are in fulfilling this life of yours.

To what extent,

Given your situation,

Are you living this life that has so much meaning for you that you would like to live?

The qualities that you identified?

Just to get a sense of just a gentle assessment?

And then for the fourth question is to then,

When considering a meaningful life,

All that matters to you,

In the present time right now,

What obstacles are arising or have arisen in the past that either compromise your deepest wishes,

Distract you from being able to sustain a life of purpose?

And here it may be internal factors,

It could be external,

But it's very helpful if we want to have a meaningful life that we just see what do we have to work with?

So you And then for number five,

Given that obstacles are very normal and to be expected to arise in our lives as we set forth into having purpose and fulfillment in our lives,

If you've been able to identify one or two issues right now or obstacles,

What ideas do you have that could help address them?

Either turn them in your favor to actually help or to be able to alleviate and take care of them so that your sense of purpose and fulfillment,

What really matters to you,

Can be really brought to the forefront.

So what ideas might help to address the obstacles that may be coming up for you?

So and then as a conclusion to just really appreciate and rejoice in your yearning,

Your aspiration,

To have a meaningful life,

To have a sense of fulfillment,

And whatever effort and time and capacity that you have is supporting that journey.

That'll contribute to the well-being,

The peace and harmony of the world,

Starting with yourself,

Your dear ones,

And then extending outward.

So really rejoice in that effort and bring some joy into that effort.

So so and then as we do after all of our meditations,

We dedicate all the merit,

The positive potential,

The good energy that we have created individually and collectively.

We dedicate it for not only our own temporal happiness,

Well-being,

But to then extend it out into the long term for full awakening in order to be of the greatest benefit.