So,
Tonight's meditation is on making the choice to love.
And what we mean here is not so much love in the romantic sense or loving chocolate ice cream,
But more like unconditional love.
You might think of it as divine love,
The kind of love that doesn't have any prerequisites on it,
Like the sun's love.
The sun just shines on everything and everyone in all situations equally without making any judgment decisions.
So it's that kind of love that we're talking about when we talk about making the choice to love.
And that love really is at the core of our being.
And sometimes it takes some stillness and some pausing to touch into it and notice it.
So we know from physics that the atom is 99% empty space.
And since we're made of molecules that are made of atoms,
We are literally 99% empty space.
So one way to think of it is,
What's that space?
In Buddhism,
The word for emptiness is the same as the word for fullness.
In this meditation,
We're going to think of that space,
That fullness,
As this kind of love,
This kind of unconditional love that is really the divine ground of who we are.
So we're going to just take a little time to pause into it and feel it.
So making the choice to love,
Having agency,
Is making a choice really to connect to our true nature.
And that quality of love,
That kind of love,
Is our biggest gift to the world and to ourselves and to our loved ones.
So we'll take a few minutes to invite that tonight.
So you can begin by closing your eyes,
Relaxing into a posture that feels comfortable for you,
Where your heart area can feel open.
Also wiggle a bright posture,
Dignified and relaxed.
Just letting the muscles of your face relax,
Letting your shoulders relax,
Letting a sense of relaxation just move through you.
And letting your breath be fluid and easy.
Letting the breath move exactly as it wants to move and enjoying it,
Enjoying your breath.
So in this meditation,
Like all meditations,
We're not trying to make anything happen.
We're just letting awareness unfold.
Just making a little space to notice that.
So letting yourself feel very relaxed and still and settling into that inner quiet for a moment.
And as soon as you settle into the inner quiet,
You may notice an inner monologue going on.
You may eavesdrop on the mind talking to itself.
That's just what the mind does.
So noticing that,
Letting it go,
Come back to the easy rhythm of your breath.
As the mind talks to itself,
It creates a kind of inner weather.
Just take a moment to reflect on whatever that weather system was for you as you sat down here or perhaps earlier in the course of your day.
What was the mind doing?
Arguing with itself,
Perhaps?
Analyzing or criticizing?
Perhaps replaying old scenes or rehearsing future ones?
Notice if that mind state,
That inner weather,
Was a conscious choice on your part or did it just arise on its own?
Was it subconscious?
Usually when we're unaware,
These mind states and the decisions that come from them are subconscious.
They're the autopilot.
And meditation helps us to become aware of that.
To turn off autopilot,
Even for a while,
Which enables us to make real choices,
To have true agency.
Not swept by the weather systems from the day,
From the external world,
Or from our internal world,
But consciously and deliberately cultivating what we invite into our awareness.
Make a decision now to just turn off the autopilot and to make a choice to fully accept,
To embrace whatever your experience is right now without judging it as good or bad.
And inviting into that experience this quality of love,
This unconditional love that's like the light of the sun that shines equally on everything.
From benevolent light.
You might even say to yourself,
I choose to love now.
I choose to love now.
Loving this moment here with all of its imperfections or discomforts or loveliness,
Whatever it is,
Just bringing love to it.
Bringing love into this moment or rather letting your awareness open to the love that's already here.
In the pause between your breaths,
In the space between your cells,
In the distance between planets,
All saturated with love.
Okay?
You don't need to be having any particular experience here.
Just notice what your own experience is.
How does love present itself to you here and now?
Is there a subtle,
Quiet feeling inside?
A tenderness or softening?
Your quality of inner kindness?
Maybe you experience your love in your compassion for your loved ones or for things happening in the world.
However and wherever you experience your particular quality of love,
Just notice it now.
Notice where in your body you feel it.
Small or large or inside you or all around you?
Warm or bright?
Soft or still?
Or unfolding like a flower?
And offer this love to whatever it is within you that you've judged or denied or withheld love from?
Those that can't love themselves offer your love,
Fill the space around that brokenness with love.
Cold or mustering?
Thank you so much.
When we bring awareness to what's happening in our body-mind,
The choice for love is always there.
And tapping into that love is tapping into the core of your being.
So with each out-breath,
Give the fullness of your love to anyone in your life who needs it.
Any members or friends or pets,
With each out-breath,
Shine like the sun that benevolent quality of love.
Shining it outward and at the same time shining it inward on whatever pains or brokenness or sorrows within need that love.
Heavy panicing and And if you feel unworthy of that love,
Just realize that's just a thought,
A thought that does not serve you.
Really release that thought and know that you are worthy of love.
You are worthy of love and you are a powerful source of love.
Trust this capacity in you.
Trust this power.
Your love is your essence.
And when the old storylines return,
And they will,
That's fine.
You can just let them go over and over.
You can renounce being a victim,
A controller,
A judge,
And instead choose to embody the love that you are.
And whatever challenging situations await you in the hours and days to come,
Sending forth love through time right now to those moments to remind you who you are,
To remind you you can greet every moment with love.
Love is who you are.
Trust it.
Love is who you are.
May all beings be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they experience ease of wellbeing.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be at peace.
You are worthy of love and you are a powerful source of love.
You can just let them go over and over.
You can just let them go over and over.
