Do not listen to this recording while driving or if you are operating machinery.
Only listen when you can safely relax and are able to get as comfortable as possible.
Hi,
My name is Robert Aceves and I welcome you to this mindfulness meditation,
Spiritual Enlightenment.
I'm going to ask you to get into a comfortable position and close your eyes.
With your eyes closed,
Observe how your body is feeling right now.
You feel intense or relaxed.
Observe what sensations are in your body at the moment.
Do you feel anxious,
Angry?
Do you feel afraid,
Nervous,
Restless,
Tired?
Do you just not feel like doing anything?
Do you feel indifferent?
Do you feel sleepy?
Maybe you had a long day or maybe you're starting your day.
Maybe you feel good,
Happy.
Whatever emotions or feelings or sensations you're experiencing right now,
Just observe them and acknowledge them.
Also observe how your concentration is right now.
Do you feel focused or do you feel like your mind is all over the place?
Are you concentrating on what we're doing right now?
Or are you thinking of a lot of other things that are happening in your life?
Are there any particular thoughts that come to mind that won't leave you alone?
Is there something bothering you?
Or do you feel like everything's fine?
Is there anything that hurts in your body?
Or do you feel energized and in good health?
How is your body right now?
Are you comfortable?
Do you feel that this meditation is going to help you in some way?
Or do you feel like nothing is going to happen?
Then you can observe how your eyes,
Being closed,
Feel.
Do you feel tension in your closed eyes?
Or do they feel relaxed?
You can also feel your breath as you inhale and exhale.
And it is true that we cannot change the past.
I cannot help you to change your past.
And yet,
In the present,
We can work to eliminate those unpleasant emotions that sometimes don't let us enjoy the present.
And many times,
Simply by observing how we are in this moment,
In the present,
Is already a great step to start working on improving ourselves.
But who decides what to do and what not to do?
In Buddhism,
It is said that everything is mind,
And therefore only the mind of a person and the person himself or herself know what happens and what can happen.
And almost always,
Most people limit themselves to thinking or doing something that is beyond their reach.
But who sets those limits?
We can assume that these limitations are set by the experiences that that person or that mind have experienced.
Human beings are creatures of habit,
But the question is how can we break those patterns,
The costs,
Those unpleasant emotions,
And transform them into something positive?
Something new can give us pleasure or pain.
Simply the idea of change can seem a little scary.
Many,
Many years ago,
A student asked his teacher,
Master,
How can I become enlightened?
And the master replied,
Can you hear the sound of the river?
And the student answered,
Yes,
To which the teacher replied,
That is where you can begin.
The story was told in Buddhism for many,
Many years,
Until one day another student asked his master,
But master,
What would have happened if the student had said that he did not hear the sound of the river?
And his master replied,
That is where you can begin.
And at that moment,
The student became enlightened.
The moral of this story is that it doesn't matter where you are right now,
Or how you are,
Or what life has given you up until this moment.
Wherever you are,
You can start to feel better.
It is true that sometimes anger can take over our lives.
Sadness can fill us with pain.
Fear can freeze us from taking action in our lives.
Our nerves can cause confusion,
Anxiety,
And depression.
And it is also true that from there we can begin to start to improve by feeling that anger with our whole being,
By feeling the sadness and letting it go.
Facing our fears,
Taming our nerves,
And clearing up our confusion,
Vanishing anxiety and depression by transforming all of these negative emotions into something more positive,
Into something better.
Continue to feel your breath and observe your body.
How do you feel right now?
Are you still feeling tense?
Are you more relaxed?
How are you doing today,
This very moment,
With your life?
Are you happy with how things are turning out?
Is there something you like to change?
Is there anything in your life that you feel could make things better for you?
Here is where you can begin.
Feel what you are feeling and think what you are thinking.
This meditation is not to eliminate these negative emotions or negative situations in your life.
Only you can do that if there is the desire to get rid of them.
They can be transformed.
These emotions,
Situations,
Or difficult people in your life can also become your best teachers.
Teachers for transformation and through meditation and mindfulness,
You can learn to face these emotions and not let them rule your life anymore.
Feel your breath coming into your body and leaving your body.
And when we meditate,
We are practicing,
As we say in Zen,
The pull by the horns.
We are sitting down to face the good and the bad situations in life that come our way.
And simply by becoming aware of these good things or bad situations,
We can begin to awaken.
Social enlightenment is liberation from these confusions,
Problems,
And negative situations in life.
What would it feel like to reach spiritual enlightenment?
What would it feel like to reach enlightenment?
If my goal is to lift 100 pounds with my arm,
Then that is too much for me right now.
It is likely that I will not be able to lift that much.
But if I manage to lift 10 pounds today,
Without a problem,
I continue to work on stimulating my muscles to lift those 10 pounds every day.
Eventually,
I'll be able to lift 20 pounds,
And then 30,
And so on,
Until one day I can lift 100 pounds with one arm with no problem.
In the same way,
Through the practice of meditation,
You'll be stimulating your spiritual muscles to be able to face these confusions,
Problems,
And situations of life without a problem,
Until one day you can become enlightened.
Is it worth having a goal as important as becoming enlightened?
What will your life be like as an enlightened being?
What will it feel like to reach enlightenment?
What will it feel like to reach enlightenment?
What will it feel like to reach enlightenment?
And now I'm going to ask you,
Little by little,
To come back to the present and open your eyes when you feel like it,
Feeling much better,
More energized,
With more confidence in yourself,
And feel free to practice these meditations as many times as you want.
Thank you for your time,
And I'll see you next time.
