So we begin together with the simple breath,
Inhaling quite deeply.
So inhale more fully than you might normally inhale,
Okay,
Filling the lungs,
Breathing in.
And then a slow out-breath,
Slowly breathing out and sense the release that you're letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
And again inhaling,
Filling the lungs,
Filling the chest.
Full in-breath.
And then a slow out-breath,
Gently releasing,
Relaxing,
Letting go.
And again inhaling deeply,
Filling the lungs.
And when you're filled with the breath,
Just hold for a moment.
You might stretch the shoulders back and down a bit,
Tuck the chin,
Sitting up tall,
Hold the breath.
And then again a very slow out-breath,
Feeling the sensations of the breath leaving,
Letting go,
Letting go.
And then noticing as the breath resumes in its natural rhythm the possibility of relaxing with the movement of the breath,
That as the breath comes in inflating like a balloon you can open and receive.
And as the breath goes out,
Settling,
Releasing,
Letting go.
Relaxed and present,
Letting the attention be now at the heart so you can reflect for these next few moments on your intention for this evening.
Looking inward for the inner fire,
That pure and sincere intention,
Perhaps for presence,
Perhaps for opening the heart,
Perhaps for a deepened understanding or realization as to who you are,
Perhaps for touching peace.
What matters is listen.
We can deepen the presence by scanning through our bodies with awareness,
Relaxing,
Opening,
Awakening presence in the body.
You can soften the eyes.
Let the brow be smooth.
Slight smile at the mouth.
Perhaps that sensing a smile on the inside of the mouth.
Help connect with that inner atmosphere of befriending,
Receptivity.
You might feel the shoulders from the inside and sense that awareness can create that space for untangling or softening or loosening whatever tension might be in the shoulders.
Letting the inside of the shoulders have sensations and space.
Letting the hands rest in a very easy and effortless way.
You might soften the hands and then feel from the inside out the life that's there.
Breathing even more.
Just noticing perhaps the tingling,
Perhaps the pulsing or vibration.
It's an intimate attention.
Let there be a real openness in the chest,
Sensing the space and aliveness inside the chest.
And scanning down,
Feeling the belly and purposely softening a little.
See if you can let this next breath be received in a softening belly.
This breath.
And now this one.
And again,
Sensing the space and aliveness in the belly.
Sensing down through the hips,
Buttocks and genitals.
Aware of the legs so that you can scan down the legs and feel them from the inside out.
Consciousness and space.
Bringing the whole awareness inside the feet.
So you can feel that same tingling and vibrating from the inside out,
The feet,
And perhaps again the hands.
And then widening the attention.
So you can sense this whole body as a dance of sensations.
Just let everything happen.
Experience the experience when you don't stop anything or oppose anything.
Have this life just living through you.
See how fully you can relax with what's happening.
A surrendering presence.
Bringing the attention to include this play of sound so that you are listening in a global way,
Just taking everything in.
Bringing the sounds washed through you.
Listening to and feeling this whole changing flow,
Moment to moment.
See how fully you can say yes energetically.
Letting everything happen.
A surrendering presence.
When you discover that the mind has gotten hitched onto a thought-form,
You've left this flow and entered a virtual reality,
The disentangling,
The reopening can be very relaxed and simple.
Just notice,
Oh,
Thinking,
Thought-form.
And then pause.
And then that pause simply relaxes the attention open again.
So there is a listening to the actual sounds that are here.
These sounds right now.
Be relaxing open in the body.
Receptive to this changing dance of sensation.
Receptive to the changing moods,
Emotions,
The weather systems that might be moving through.
A surrendering presence allowing this life to live through you.
Releasing a new brothers relationship with blueเนเธฅ.
Zen master Ryokan writes,
To know the Buddhist law,
Drift east,
Drift west,
Come and go,
Entrusting yourself to the waves.
Pouring in this last part of the sitting,
That entrusting,
What it means to truly say yes to the life that's here.
In the last part,
What it means to truly say yes to the life that's here.
In the last part,
What it means to truly say yes to the life that's here.
In the last part,
What it means to truly say yes to the life that's here.
