So I'm going to start off with a poem,
And just to say that we,
At least once a week,
We do the loving-kindness practice,
Generally anyway,
With the stages,
Two,
Three stages,
Bringing a good friend or a difficult person,
But also,
Every practice we do is loving-kindness.
It's just a different format,
Because when you allow everything to be as it is,
Instead of criticising,
Pushing away,
Judging,
So,
And this is exactly what this guy says,
Dennis Warren.
It doesn't mean we don't do the stage of practice,
Because I think they're very useful,
But it's all loving-kindness.
Bring the fear and the shame,
The misery and the pain,
Bring everything you suspect is dangerous or impure,
Bring every broken vow,
Disappointment and despair,
But also bring the hope of hearing your true voice,
Of touching your true nature.
In the quiet of this place,
In the stillness of your heart,
You are safe,
There is no need to hide anymore.
If you listen,
Listen deeply,
If you wait,
Wait without wanting,
Your true voice will speak to you,
A hand from your own heart will reach out to you.
So we can also take that into our daily life,
You know,
When there's a sadness or a disappointment,
Whatever it is,
It's not about stopping them.
And I used to have the view that if I felt disappointed or sad,
I wasn't very spiritual.
You know,
And that's the things we go through,
I'm not very advanced,
I'm still feeling this.
What you feel is not that relevant,
How you allow it to be there.
It's the relationship,
Just allow everything to be here.
You know,
As I said,
We don't know how true it is,
But when the Buddha's two friends died,
He felt sad,
Of course I feel sad,
They're my friends,
It's not that these feelings go away,
Just that we don't add on to them,
We don't do the second dagger.
So let's start off with the mantra,
And the mantra can be something like Sharim.
So we just quietly recite it to ourself,
Just for a few minutes,
Just to settle the system.
Maybe in sync with the breath,
Sharim,
Sharim.
If it works for you,
You don't need to use it.
Sharim,
Sharim.
Just settling into the body,
Into the present moment.
And if you feel the time is right,
You can allow the mantra to fade,
And pick it up whenever you need it.
And you just feel the breath,
Particularly the end of the out-breath.
Just allowing yourself to feel everything.
Not micromanaging our experience.
Are you listening to mind,
Or are you listening to the body,
Or to life?
You're better off listening to the buses going by,
Than listening to the mind.
Where's your attention right now?
Just notice if there's any holding anywhere,
And just feel that.
Just say hello to it.
Just feel it for a few seconds,
Or a few minutes.
Where are you now?
Or more accurately,
Where's your attention?
Just checking that you're relaxed.
If there's any tension,
Just take a deep breath,
And drop into presence,
The body.
Being nobody,
Going nowhere,
Just sitting.
Feeling the breath,
Hearing the sounds.
Just resting.
I'm going to finish again with the same poem.
Bring the fear and the shame,
The misery and the pain.
Bring everything you suspect is dangerous or impure.
Bring every broken vow,
Disappointment and despair.
But also bring the hope of hearing your true voice.
Of touching your true nature.
In the quiet of this place,
In the stillness of your heart,
You are safe.
There's no need to hide anymore.
If you listen,
Listen deeply.
If you wait,
Wait without wanting.
Your true voice will speak to you.
And from your own heart,
Will reach out to you.
And relax.
Have a little stretch or whatever.
So thank you guys.
