The Power Of Meditation

This is an engaging and inspiring, heartfelt talk give by Tiger Singleton. Tiger invites us to embrace our authenticity and hold a space where we recognise and harness our sincerity. By acknowledging the power of our vulnerability, we may feel deep grounded and connected within and without.

Transcript

Meditation traditionally has been a spiritual activity.

And with every spiritual path or tradition,

You can recognize that in some way the point is to allow yourself to be present.

And don't we notice the human experience,

What seems to be so challenging,

Is that we can't be present.

That there always seems to be some impending doom,

Some anxiety,

Some fear,

Some trepidation that says,

I cannot relax.

I can't just be.

And if you've explored spirituality for any length of time,

What you've recognized is that the conclusion can be summed up in the statement,

All is well.

And this is what meditation invites us to see.

That everything that we're running from,

Everything that we think is such a big deal,

Actually,

There's literally nothing to worry about.

And for thousands and thousands and thousands of years,

Human beings have been looking for that place of rest.

And whatever discovery you've had on any spiritual path you've had,

What you've recognized is a freedom to come back to the present moment and just be.

Because let's recognize this within ourselves,

That one of the sincerest desires that we have is something that says,

I wish I could be free.

And in such a space of freedom,

What that says is,

I wish I could just be.

Just be me.

That when I'm sad,

I wish it was okay that I'm sad.

That when I'm angry,

I wish it was okay that I'm angry.

And when I'm happy,

I wish it was okay that I'm happy.

Because human beings in our journey,

We've been,

You could say,

Born into an environment of confusion,

Where nobody really understands what the hell is going on.

And everyone's just pretending like they have their shit together.

And so we travel this circle trying to figure things out.

And I ask you,

In everything that you might be racing towards,

Everything that you might want to happen,

Isn't it so that you can finally relax?

So that you can finally be?

And this forever has been the invitation to spirituality.

In essence,

It's a soft whisper that says,

My dear,

Notice what's true.

Notice what's real.

Come home.

Meditation is an invitation into the real,

Into what's true.

Not only about life,

But about you.

You see,

There's a profound difference between what's actually real and what we imagine to be real.

And it is not life that is the problem.

It is not reality that's in the way.

It's a misunderstanding within the being that is confused about what's real.

Recognize just in this very moment,

You recognize how this moment right now,

This is what's real.

This moment.

It's real.

It's alive.

It's happening.

In the way that if I were to ask you,

What is life really?

You would give me a bunch of ideas that aren't really life.

Interpretations,

Perspectives,

Opinions,

Ideas,

Movements of thought strung together.

Do you see that the most sincere answer to what is life is a silence?

A stillness?

This is life right now.

And in this life that is real and true,

In what is actually alive,

I ask you,

Where is the problem?

Where is the chain in this moment that says you're not enough?

Where is the conclusion that says this moment's missing something?

Is any of that even real?

Or is it the mind moving back and forth from an opinion about yesterday into a projected fear about tomorrow,

All of which isn't alive,

Which is real?

It's imagined,

Brought into this moment.

Realize the magnitude of this,

That in this very moment,

There's no problem to the degree that you're completely held in the arms of life.

And yet,

Because we are so enchanted or hypnotized by mental commentary,

We bring an energy of agitation into the present moment that has nothing to do with the present moment.

And we live as if that's true.

You see,

In order for you to find an agitation right now,

You have to go into the mind and project something about tomorrow,

Worried about what might or might not happen,

Worried about what was or shouldn't have been.

But yet to come home,

To be here,

You'll notice a profound permission that says,

Rest.

I've got you.

Meditation is an opportunity for you to surrender what is unreal and make contact with what's real.

You don't have to understand,

But you're invited to feel it,

To let go of everything that you might be holding on to that looks for some sort of fulfillment in tomorrow and be held by life.

That we experience that in this life there isn't really much to hold onto.

A bit disappointing,

Maybe?

Everything keeps changing.

People won't stand still.

And we exhaust ourselves,

Looking and looking and looking.

Trying to grab a hold of that which was not meant to be captured.

Trying to secure that which was never meant to be secured.

And we exhaust ourselves.

And it's funny because as it goes,

The most profound breakthroughs come through this space of exhaustion,

Through this pain of suffering.

Why is that?

Because you stop trying.

Because you let go.

And in your letting go,

In your surrender,

You become profoundly present.

And what do you recognize in that presence?

Actually all is well.

I'm okay.

It becomes easier and easier to rest in this space of meditation the more you are able to discern the difference between what is real and what is imagined.

And this is a journey.

It's a life of devotion.

It's a movement within yourself that says,

Okay,

I'm done grasping at the world.

I'm done trying to hold on to that which can never be captured.

My heart is now interested in what's true.

And in this space of devotion,

As it relates to meditation,

I would invite one to recognize a question of sincerity within yourself.

Are you praying so that God puts your illusion back together?

So that you get what you want?

Or is it because of a deep sincerity?

A deep sincerity that longs to come home?

And there's no wrong way about it.

It's just an issue of sincerity.

You see there's a profound power in this energy of sincerity.

And meditation is a fantastic space for it to be seen.

What is sincerity?

Do you see how we could say sincerity is what's truly felt?

Beyond pretense,

Beyond pretending.

It's what's really there,

Sincere.

And you see to say that it's what's really there,

It's to say what's really true.

What's really alive inside of you.

It also speaks to a space of vulnerability.

To allow ourselves to acknowledge what's happening,

What's being felt.

Do you notice that if one does not allow themselves to rest in the sincere,

We are denied the truth of life?

Just notice this.

If the sincere is what's true.

If it's what's real,

And we push it away,

We deny it,

We run from it,

We are running from life.

And I ask you in your journey of being human,

To run from your sincerity and to deny it,

How's that going?

Do you see how we always find ourselves back to that space of vulnerability that has to confess the sincere?

Sooner or later it's coming out.

This is the nature of the truth.

Sooner or later it will be seen.

And so playfully my intent with you is to hold a space where you recognize a connection that you have with life that holds your sincerity.

Where you can feel a presence that says it's okay.

Because this without doubt will make the biggest impact in your life to allow yourself to be yourself.

You see the strength in vulnerability says I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not.

I can be what I am.

There's a trust in life that says I can allow the truth to be the truth.

And understand that this is all profoundly innocent.

There's zero judgment in this.

But I invite you to recognize why it is we don't allow ourselves to be sincere.

To rest in vulnerability.

Because we are afraid to lose something that we're holding on to.

Just notice this for a moment.

Why would you not be sincere?

A fear of loss.

That it might not work out.

Something will happen beyond your control.

Someone might think this or think that.

Do you see how that's a movement that's trying to hold on to something?

Trying to get to the future.

And do you see how divided within ourselves we become?

And I say this gently but hear me.

Do you see how violent we become inside of ourselves?

To not allow yourself to be yourself is the root of all violence.

That's where it starts.

It's a withholding of love.

And in this anytime we find an expression or some manifest form of violence moving through us it is merely a reflection on the surface that's pointing to something that's happening inside.

Whatever you see on the surface is only a mirror.

Do you notice how if ever you're unkind to other people you're already being unkind to yourself?

If you're angry with another you're already angry with yourself.

You see this whole landscape of life is set up for healing.

In the way that no matter where you go in this life you're going to be pointed back inside of yourself.

To see what's really going on.

And the only thing life is trying to show you says dear one look at this love you're not allowing for what you are.

Please see this.

We're going to do a very short meditative exercise.

And what I invite you to do in this exercise is to not try and do anything.

But just allow yourself to be.

And we're just going to notice some things.

And you can either close your eyes or leave them open.

So we sit here in this space.

Life is happening.

Life is real.

And I simply invite you to recognize the breath that's happening.

It's just happening.

It goes in.

It goes out.

Since the beginning.

Isn't that kind of amazing?

As long as you've been alive this same breath flowing in and flowing out.

Within that you see a small invitation of gratitude.

That says wow I didn't even have to do it.

It's been given.

Breathing is breathing what I am.

Now I just invite you to notice the most curious thing.

That when you put your attention on your breath.

Very subtly you start trying to control your breath.

And breathing becomes more difficult.

Oh my God.

The moment you think it's up to you.

There's an agitation.

Give your breath back to life.

Let life breathe you.

And with your breath.

There's this aliveness that flows in and out.

Touching every cell in the body.

Nurturing everything that you are.

Not asking for anything in return.

And for a moment see beyond all the mental noise that might be concerned about this and that.

And connect with the reality that's happening right now.

Here you are alive.

In this miracle called life.

And as you are here alive.

There is something that breathes through you.

Nurtures every cell.

Tends to the organs.

Grows the bones.

In all of this as human beings we only pretend to understand how or why it works.

We just know that it does.

Can you recognize that to be alive.

To be alive is the miracle.

Could you imagine if breathing was up to you?

Setting an alarm on your phone every five minutes just to check in.

Absolute terror before you fall asleep not knowing if you're good enough.

Not knowing if you can keep it up.

No life says let me do that.

And do you notice that whenever you're stressed out,

Anxious you hold your breath.

You see throughout your entire life,

Throughout your entire life there's been this unending play of worry.

What about this?

What about this?

What about this?

And you see that in a very real way the only thing that you've been worried about is that you wouldn't make it to this moment right now.

You wouldn't get here.

Here you are and nothing has gone how you thought it was going to go.

And you see the difficulty in living has been trying to make it go how you think it should go.

And we exhaust ourselves.

You see in the same way that life is breathing through you.

Life is also carrying you down a path.

And notice that the pain of our journeys in most part or if not all part has been a resistance to that path.

An argument with life.

And so in the sacredness of this space that we'll call home for a moment,

We recognize large or small an invitation to surrender,

To lay down the resistance,

Lay down the fight,

And to finally allow ourselves to breathe.

To acknowledge the truth that you've seen from your direct experience thus far.

That the point of life is not that it goes your way.

That's not what it's here for.

And in recognizing this,

You'll notice something within you that's willing to give your breath back to life.

Something within that says,

Okay,

I'm yours.

Move me.

Go.

Go.

You see the space of meditation is a space to let it go.

Not by force.

There's no demand.

It's an invitation.

It says you can pick it up tomorrow.

You can pick it up when you leave,

But how about right now we just let it go.

Let what go?

The idea that you know.

The idea that you know how it should be or shouldn't be.

The idea that you know who's right and who's wrong.

The idea that you know what life should be about.

And just feel what you are.

You see my friends,

This invitation is always waiting on standby.

Do you notice that this moment,

The presence in this moment is always here?

The same sacredness or peace or love that you might sense now is always here.

It's the foundation of what's real.

And in this space as we release what is not true,

What doesn't serve,

We can start to sense aliveness return.

Something that is true,

Something that is real.

Because you see this is what actually feeds what you are.

Please hear me here.

This is what actually feeds what you are.

What feeds you is the truth of what you are.

What feeds you is the truth of life.

This is what allows the joy to return.

Because don't you notice that this is your natural state beyond all of the nonsense that we might believe?

Beyond all of the mental commentary concerned about this and that,

That when you come home to this present moment,

To what's real and true,

There's a joy that begins to bloom.

A wellness.

And we start to recognize that life is a celebration of what's real.

Life is a landscape for your heart to sing,

Dance and play.

You understand as human beings,

We're babies throwing sand at each other.

We have barely begun to scratch the surface of what this life truly is,

What you truly are,

Just how connected you are to everything.

And I'll tell you something,

The more you think you know,

The more difficult it is for life to show you.

So there is this invitation of humility.

This is a power in meditation.

To come home to the present moment and to admit,

I don't really know.

This is a power in meditation.

And meditation.

To come home to the present moment and to admit I don't really know.

Reviews

I love being here, and long to be here when I am not ~
Thank you for gifting this space. 🙏

This is so fantastic. Thank you Love.
All is well. I'm sending heartfelt gratitude to you♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Well, that was bloody amazing 🙌🙏🌼❤️ I listened to this beautiful talk by Tiger - my first introduction to his work - on the go: doing dishes, getting dinner ready, laundry on, etc. before collecting kids from school. I even took & made a phonecall between. But his voice kept calling me back into presence, back to the moment, to my breath & the wonder of it all despite the monotony & "busyness" of my day, & the tendency to worry about "this & that" ...I look forward to listening to this again, as a meditation itself. What profound beauty & eternal wisdom lies in his words here for us all to take heed of. Thank you Tiger. Namaste 🙏✨️🌷🌱

Very helpful, put my worries into perspective. Soothing voice talking a lot of sense. Thank you 🙏

Just what I needed, will return to this again and again. Thank you 🙏

So powerful. Thank you for sharing it with this community. Namaste.

Thank you ever so kindly for reminding me that all is well❤️

Superb. Absolutely brilliant description of what meditation is all about, the background environment sounds and music is terrific and your voice is fantastic. Thank you again for this sincere and powerful wisdom.

Always good! Just what I needed to remember feel and touch this morning. ThankYou!😊

Powerful and intuively what I already know, yet still resist. Thank you 🖤

This is one of the best sessions thinking about meditation that I have ever had.

I'm so glad that I found this today; thank you.

Thank you for this homecoming

Wow! This just touched me so profoundly. Thank you !

Beautiful and powerful

Transformative ! Truth!!

This is a truly inspirational talk!! It really made me feel connected with myself and the world again
Thank you!!

Thank you for this very beautiful and insightful talk 🙏

Real - brings me back to life- must be heard again and again