Namaste and welcome to this practice.
This is a meditative reading on the Dhammapada,
The teachings of the Buddha,
And the chapter that we will read today is called Mindfulness.
So now I invite you to get into your meditative posture,
And it's your choice if you want to gradually close your eyes or keep them open.
We will start with bringing ourselves to presence and emptying our mind of any thoughts.
For this I invite you to breathe in and out,
And as you breathe in,
Visualize that you are breathing in white light,
And as you breathe out,
Visualize that you are breathing out black smoke.
All this while letting your awareness follow the flow of your breath.
Through this white light,
You are breathing in presence,
And through this black smoke,
You are breathing out the thoughts.
If at any point you find your awareness distracted,
Then without any judgment,
Bringing your awareness back to the breath.
Breathing in light,
Breathing out black smoke.
And now the reading from the Dhammapada on mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the path to immortality.
Negligence is the path to death.
The vigilant never die,
Whereas the negligent are the living dead.
With this understanding,
The wise,
Having developed a high degree of mindfulness,
Rejoice in mindfulness,
Delighting in the domain of the noble ones.
These awakened ones,
Dedicated to meditation,
Striving actively and vigorously,
Attaining nirvana,
The ultimate security.
The fame and fortune of the man who is vigorous,
Aware,
Unsullied,
Acting with consideration and restraint,
Become ever-growing.
The wise man,
By vigor,
Mindfulness,
Restraint,
And self-control,
Creates for himself an island which no flood can submerge.
The foolish,
The unwise,
Surrender themselves to negligence,
Whereas the wise man protects mindfulness as his most valuable possession.
Don't lose yourself in negligence,
Don't lose yourself in sensuality,
For it is the mindful and meditative man who will experience supreme happiness.
When the enlightened man frees himself from careless behavior through mindfulness,
Free of sorrow,
He gazes on the sorrowing masses,
As one on the mountaintop gazes on the plain below.
The mindful person among the mindless,
The aware person among the unaware,
Surpasses the rest with his wisdom,
Like a superb racehorse outstripping an old,
Worn-out horse.
By mindfulness did the Maghavat,
Lord of two realms,
Reach the position of authority among the gods,
So vigilance is ever praised and negligence ever disdained.
A seeker concentrating on mindfulness advances like a fire,
Consuming the chains of bondage,
Both great and small.
A monk or layperson rejoicing in mindfulness,
Seeing the danger of negligence,
Cannot fall backwards and is close to nirvana.
And then gradually,
In your own time,
You can allow yourself to start coming out of the practice.
If you feel like moving your hands,
Your feet,
You can allow yourself to do that.
And then very slowly,
Allowing the eyes to open as we bring this meditation to its completion.
Thank you so much for doing this practice with me.
Much love to you.
