Hello,
Good morning.
And a while ago,
It still happens,
But a few years ago,
Ningenua.
Preparing for a retreat here.
And she is preparing the flowers.
And what she was doing I noticed was.
.
.
She got all the flowers,
Arranged them,
Put them in the vase,
Fiddled with them,
Then she would stand back.
Do nothing.
And just look.
Should go back in,
Get stuck into them,
Then do a little bit crossing around them and moving this here and there.
Then just stand back again and you do this three or four times and then okay now they're okay and then go out on the The Shrine.
I thought that's an interesting way of looking at meditation.
If Gaynor hadn't have done nothing,
Just stood back and not looked,
Just simply looking.
She wouldn't have known how they were.
There'd be no perspective on them.
If she just kept her head in them,
Just fiddling with them.
Who knows what we would have ended up with.
So that fiddling is important,
You have to fiddle with them,
Arrange them.
But the standing back and doing nothing is just as important.
And that's what we do here.
If we say our daily life is the fiddling,
Fiddling around,
Arranging things and doing things.
And that's what we often find easier.
Because you don't have to then look and see.
So what we're doing here is just basically.
.
.
Just experiencing.
The bodily sensations,
The breath,
The sounds.
Seeing what the mind keeps presenting because the mind is keeps presenting us with the reality that's not true even though we're convinced it is true it isn't true I'm not talking about practical thinking here,
That's different.
I'm never talking about that.
That's what the mind is brilliant for,
Brilliant at.
So basically that's what we're doing.
We have to fiddle,
We have to do things,
Live our lives,
Go to work,
Etc.
If you don't.
.
.
Sit and do nothing in the way we're doing here.
And we're not talking about sitting,
Doing nothing,
Watching TV.
And that's not it either.
People say I watch TV,
That's my meditation.
I'm not saying we shouldn't watch TV,
That's not the point,
But we need to just sit.
Not need,
But it's a good thing just to sit and just to see what's going on,
Just to experience what's going on.
It's a direct experience.
Don't try to achieve anything.
The moment you try to achieve anything,
You've missed the point.
It's okay to do that.
We all miss the point.
I still miss the point.
You see it earlier and more clearly.
Ah,
Okay.
You see,
You become more interested in being than.
.
.
All the doing.
Doing for doing's sake.
A lot of our doing is a kind of restlessness because we find it difficult to sit still.
So let's just take a deep breath or two.
Let's do her.
Father,
10 minutes of loving kindness.
I'll do a little guidance.
So you might want to rest the attention in the heart.
Is feeling into the heart,
The heart area.
If I had a face,
What would the face look like?
I'm not judging what we find.
Not evaluating.
We're certainly not trying to change what we find.
You went to this heart area.
Just drop in.
A few words.
She's quietly inside.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
And you sit.
And feel what's there.
May I find peace and contentment.
Keep it simple.
In this heart space,
I'd like you to welcome a friend.
You are lost in thought,
Just drop the thoughts.
And you're back into the heart area Words are just a catalyst,
Just a pointer.
Point us towards the silence.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
Wish them well.
Don't try to squeeze out kindness or anything like that.
Put down the exertion,
The efforting.
May you find good health.
And peace.
So as ourself,
Our good friend,
I'd like you to welcome somebody you find a little difficult See what happens.
And wish them well.
May I put a hand on their shoulder?
Or a smile.
See what happens.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
So is our self a good friend and a difficult person?
Or just want to be happy,
Healthy?
Feel safe.
And you set Feel the breath if you wish.
Particularly the end of the out-breath.
Okay,
Here's the claws,
You can open them,
Have a little stretch.
Thank you guys.
Coffee time.
