This guided meditation is called Cultivating Your Inner Land,
That is your heart.
It is part of the Master Class,
Releasing Your Circle of Chaos and Whirling in Love.
Releasing your circle of chaos involves building healthy and purposeful boundaries.
When you make a healthy boundary for yourself,
Then things that sometimes have hurt you in the past will not be able to reach you anymore.
Making purposeful boundaries mean saying no to our unhealthy patterns and making a conscious effort to untangle ourselves from our circle of chaos.
By making healthy boundaries,
We enter into a cycle of positive patterns with ourselves that are rooted in our inner sense of self-worth and self-compassion.
Making healthy boundaries is essential for healthy living.
So let's begin as we always do by breathing together.
Take 5 deep breaths now with me to oxygenate your body and all of its systems.
As you feel the weight of your body and how it presses down,
Make sure that your spine is completely straight and your posture exudes that you are confident.
Gently close your eyes,
Increasing your ability to focus.
As you breathe easily and gently,
You feel safe and relaxed.
My voice guiding you is like a beacon of light through the darkness.
As the sun rises,
You see that you are standing in a beautiful lush green grass and there is a small house that you have built by hand in the middle of it.
This house represents you and all the work that you have put into yourself and the grass represents the world outside of you.
You decide that it would be good to plant some more trees and some shrubs so that these plants will aid in protecting you from harm and they will also benefit the world.
For example,
A raspberry bush is very spiky and dense,
Yet it gives a bounty of fruits for us to enjoy and be nourished by.
If you plant many in a row,
They will protect you as well as serve as a tall electric fence.
Therefore,
These raspberry bushes serve two purposes.
What can you plant today in your life that will bring you a sense of safety within your soul?
When you plant tall trees,
They will protect you from harsh winds if placed in a way that is good through all of the seasons.
Your initiative to embrace Sufi singing is an act of planting tall trees because the wisdom of this poetry will awaken your inner ears and intuition and will be a source of wisdom for making key decisions in your life as well as a source of strength throughout your life.
Music has the power to awaken us from within and that is why Sufi mystics have used the power of sound and poetry as a requisite spiritual practice to awaken the higher calling.
Tall trees supply us with the most oxygen.
Therefore,
They are giving while also protecting.
So,
The trees serve many purposes here.
As a student of my late teacher,
Usad Hamid Ali Khan Sahib of Gwalior,
I was not only given the gift of performing music and teaching but also a protection from the Gwalior lineage of hereditary royal musicians.
I am sharing this with you because you are my beloved student.
This protection from the Gwalior lineage helped me through difficult moments.
As a teacher,
I said prayers to you and believe that the wisdom that you are seeking in this course will protect you in your trying times and in your difficult moments.
So,
Here you are in front of your hand-built house and you look at these beautiful life forces that you are planting on your land and you notice that they need a water source.
So,
You find the lowest lying area and begin digging down and around,
Making the shape of a small pond.
As you step back from the circle of dirt you have created,
You know that only a few heavy rains need to pour down and it will begin to fill and turn into a natural source of water.
And this pond will serve many purposes on your land.
Think of the analogy of digging a pond as attending to your music practice every day.
Before you even realize,
These Sufi songs will become a part of you and you will begin having deep conversations through these songs with yourself.
They will serve as your life force.
The pond not only provides you and the wildlife with water,
But it also gives you somewhere to go to meditate and reflect on the good things in your life and the good things that you do for others.
Closer to your house,
You see you need some vegetables and fruits,
So you create a garden that is easy for you to access and water when necessary.
You plant all of the fruits you like and any kind of vegetables you need,
And your garden flourishes and provides.
And all this garden needs from you is to be tended to.
You look around and you see that you need an orchard,
So you strategically plant many apple trees and other fruiting trees right next to the protected area by the pig tall trees.
And a little closer to the pond so that they can all drink.
This orchard supplies you with the most delicious apples you've ever tasted and the nutrients are off the charts.
And I know that as you initiate a journey in learning Sufi singing,
You will be so proud of yourself when a song that earlier seemed difficult to enunciate or sing will flow naturally from your voice.
You look around your plot of land and you are proud.
Not only do all these plants protect you and your home,
But they also give to you and the community around them.
How will you transform your community by building your connection with Sufi singing?
Make sure that you work on the garden within you and put up proper barriers that if planted well and with love and care will give you safety and strength.
You are protected and allowed to lead a happy life.
Maybe when you look back a year or so from now or later,
You may find that the time that you have taken aside to cultivate your inner wisdom is the best investment that you have made in yourself and in your happiness during the pandemic.
Lastly,
Look again at your hand built home and make any necessary changes to it.
You are an excellent builder,
My friend.
Good job today.
