Feel free to close your eyes and return to this moment.
Being fully aware within yourself.
Your body.
Your breath.
The subtlety of your thoughts.
Your center.
And if you haven't already done so.
.
.
And gently closing your eyes.
And the vitality within you.
Because in effect everything you've been searching for is already here.
In every effort to gain or become something.
It's simply been an uncovering.
Of what has always existed within us.
Heart Depth.
Our beauty.
Our quiet wholeness.
So we remind ourselves.
That the worth we seek is right here,
Right now.
In this breath.
In this Padam lung body.
Acknowledging these things for ourselves.
Feeling the wholesomeness that has been our own since our very first breath.
Breathing deeply.
Letting go of striving.
Laying down the need to prove something.
Just search.
To reach outside of ourselves.
Because a part of us is already tired of seeking.
And that part is calling us back to simplicity.
To being.
To receiving.
To gratitude.
Where to be.
Is to soften.
To open within ourselves.
To slow down.
To arrive.
Letting worry,
Fear and tension fall away.
Releasing what tightens our chest,
Our jaw,
Our mind.
Gently noticing the world around us,
The breath,
Stillness,
The quiet life unfolding.
Because we don't need to search for what is already there.
We meet ourselves here.
Repeatedly.
Rediscovering the richness within us.
A gift that already holds.
Already worthy.
As we've always been worthy.
Where surrender is the invitation to let go.
Doesn't mean giving up air or intention.
At releasing that tight grip,
The strain,
The fear,
It's trusting that life is already carrying us.
So we take one deep breath and then another.
With each exhale we soften more.
Feeling ourselves supported by the earth beneath us.
Noticing where we hold tension.
Because these places often carry a quiet fear that we're not supported,
That we're not safe,
Not held.
So we gently release apprehensions that are not serving us.
For this moment choosing to let go.
And there are parts of us that are tight and restricted,
While other parts are vital,
Alive and moving with energy.
So we notice the pulsing flow of life moving in and through us.
Imagining releasing tension from those tight places.
Allowing ourselves to be carried.
Held by something greater.
Something steady and alive.
Because life has been guiding us along.
So instead we remember the peace we feel when resting,
Allowing that feeling to remain within us.
And engaging with meditation from that place.
And as the sun sets,
We let go.
We release the day.
The striving the future,
We rest in breath and silence.
And instead of picking up all our old worries,
Our old stories or efforts,
Or things we carry that we think will protect us.
Allowing our awareness to dissipate outwards into the world.
This time instead.
We remain contained within our body.
And if we continuously release our need for controlling the flow.
And paws are worrying about the impediments.
We allow positivity to enter our lives.
The more we trust the journey itself.
The more fluid and joyful life will become.
The more we constrict.
The more we worry.
The more will be the burdens that we pick up along the way.
And our mind will be like a rock that sinks to the bottom of our river.
Instead,
We allow ourselves to remain centered within the turbulent waters.
Allowing ourselves instead to be carried to the calm,
Cool waters.
Taking delight in the way something new is being born within us,
In every second.
Start to realize the effort we've put into alternately trying to avoid or cling to many aspects of our life.
Instead of transcending to allow our dreams to come into fruition.
There may be moments in our life where all will seem to be chaos or disharmony.
And in those moments we have to remember that the positive energy within ourselves especially at our center.
Is gradually reordering our life.
To be a better match for what we are calling forth.
So we let go instead of clinging to fear.
Since letting this process happen.
Is a necessary part of the evolution.
Keeping faith,
Trust.
Working continuously at the center of our body.
Letting go when goals have become too unrealistic or beyond our reach.
Finding peace in the unfolding.
Recognizing that fear is useless to us in these times.
Trust,
However,
Is paramount.
While we are co-creating with our life force.
As we learn to trust that inner positivity.
It doesn't mean giving up on trying to create the best life for ourselves.
It doesn't mean giving up in the face of adversity.
It is just turning inward.
To our interior world.
In accordance with the assertion that When I want to see clearly,
I close my eyes.
Becoming more aware of what lies within us in this moment.
How the energy feels.
Meeting ourselves deeply in this way.
Because within us there's a small flickering flame.
Within the center of the body.
It's always been there whether we notice it or not.
But in our meditation.
.
.
We'll not abandon this inner flame.
Inside this light,
We hold our whole being.
We merely stay present within ourselves.
Connecting with our removable centre.
Our refuge in times of greatest uncertainty.
Remembering that we are the keeper of the eternal flame.
The turbulence of the outside world cannot touch what burns within.
So we place what is most true at our center.
Focusing all our positive energy there.
On what the Persian poet Hafez called the breath within the breath.
Gently at the center of life's raw tenderness.
Offering ourselves wholly to this love.
When we hold at our center whatever life has brought us.
Or will bring us in the future.
It is as if we cup our hands around this flame of truth.
Cherishing this continuing miracle.
Intuitively.
Instinctively.
We guard this inner flame with our whole being.
If we wish to bring to mind the mantra Samma Arahang.
To keep the mind in place.
We can also do this.
In any case.
We use our entire being.
To shield this flickering light.
Cherish the warmth of our own inner flame.
Letting this flame flicker deep in our center.
As we continue with our meditation for a few more moments now in silence.
So we continue to notice and welcome our inner sense of peace Simply noticing.
Hallowing inviting,
Embracing.
Feeling the space within us.
Acknowledging how nature holds us in our place in the wider matrix of life.
Trying our best not to refuse or deny any part of it.
Simply noticing the subtle ways we try to retreat into our own selfish space.
Instead we open up to this wide expanse within us and around us.
Opening our awareness and our mind.
So ultimately this is how we connect to the center of the body.
The light of our center.
Of our spirit.
Of our intuition.
And ultimately of our greatness.
This wide expanse of who we are is so enormous.
That our tiny body is only an infinitesimal part.
As the inner experience filters through our perceptions as loving kindness,
With our body as its subtle staging ground.
We may be tempted to fight back against its magnitude.
We may sometimes feel incapable to hold it.
But just for this moment,
We let the centre of our body become replete.
Let our light totally fill the space of our body in its entirety.
As if it were the most important task in our life.
Accepting the light back to the center of ourselves.
Not pushing back in fear of feeling too small or too incapable.
As if this were our life's work.
Softening,
And allowing the magnitude of our being to be embodied.
Allowing ourselves to be filled up.
By a different level of awareness and consciousness.
Consciousness of our center.
Of our inner Light.
However we see it.
Just realizing how good it feels,
Finally,
To reach our spiritual home.
So we bring this light.
At the centre of the body.
To the center of our world.
As best we can.
Without limits.
Without hesitation.
For a few more moments in silence until we come to time for some loving-kindness meditation.
We continue to keep our mind gently immersed at our center.
Channeling the light and the peaceful energy within ourselves.
And even without our realizing it.
Meditation gradually replaces any aggressive emotions in our subconscious with more wholesome and compassionate intentions.
Left to themselves,
Aggressive emotions will consume us from the inside.
Making us angry or defiant.
Upsetting even our breath.
To make it shallow or more frantic.
Such emotions on the global level spark conflict.
Trico Wars.
And destroy the things love would protect.
Unfortunately,
At some level,
Such aggressive taints are a hidden part that lives in all of us.
And can take us by surprise.
When they erupt to the surface for whatever reason.
They feed on ego.
On the belief that we deserve something more.
Something better.
Something different.
They thrive on thoughts that keep us small.
Convincing us that we must fight.
Defend.
Reclaim.
These are the symptoms of war within us.
The force that harms others and ourselves.
Yet there's another presence.
Lovingkindness.
Which is soft and steady.
And always available.
Arises whenever we let it flow from our center.
It sees clearly.
Holds gently.
And remain steady through every storm.
It meets pain,
Ours or others.
And create us it in compassion.
In fact,
This is our true nature.
Quiet,
Endless source of warmth and wisdom.
And it's something that we can choose to embody.
Loving kindness in the place of aggression.
We can pivot whenever we feel aggressive impulses arising.
Just by pausing.
Breathing deeply.
And in that breath,
Loving-kindness returns.
The softer path may feel less intense.
But in fact it's stronger.
It roots instead of reacts.
It heals instead of harms.
So we reconnect with our center.
Something we might refer to as our refuge.
Allowing that loving-kindness to emanate forth.
Protecting us in our vulnerability.
Returning to our softness.
Rather than resisting it.
Because each moment offers us a choice to fight or to soften.
And war.
Whether it be in our thoughts,
Our words,
Our actions,
Can be overcome from within.
From spreading forth lovingkindness.
We can create compassion in the world.
Easing suffering.
Awakening the gentle presence within us.
By extending loving kindness.
Initially towards ourselves.
And then toward others in the wider world.
So we try to embody the peace we want to see in the world,
Because our peace and the peace we bring to the world depends on it.
We extend forth loving-kindness in this way,
Each to our own practice,
Just for the last few moments in silence together.
