Welcome.
This is an insight meditation,
Where we have the opportunity to just be here.
And as we relax into the stillness of what actually is,
Beyond all of the commotion in the mind,
I might say some insightful things that support you on your human journey.
The underlying intent of this meditation is to turn problems into opportunities,
And it seems like a beautiful opportunity to create a meditation that,
When it seems like there are heavy problems in life,
You can listen to this and come back to the present moment and see a deeper truth to what you're facing.
And of course,
To touch upon this deeper truth,
You might find yourself turning towards life rather than feeling like you must run away from it.
So let's just settle in here to the moment,
Inviting ourselves to be present,
And open ourselves up to the possibility that,
Maybe in some way,
Life truly desires to support you.
Let's just take a moment to just breathe,
As you're here with me right now,
And I hope you brought something that seems like it is a problem.
I want to take a moment and invite us to be radically honest about something.
We can say that,
Yes,
There is something happening,
Apparently,
And it seems like a problem.
It seems like it's in the way.
And then,
As I see this something that is a problem,
Within me there is a feeling of anxiousness,
Maybe a worry,
Maybe a sadness,
Maybe an anger.
Can we just acknowledge that that comes with seeing this as a problem?
We're just making space to acknowledge what's really there inside of you.
So,
As we recognize this,
Without any of it being right or wrong,
Should or should not be,
Can we recognize how our emotional experience is responding to how we see this problem?
In some way,
We are looking at what is through a particular lens that says what is is against you.
There is an interpretation that says what is is in your way,
And of course,
Naturally,
That scares you.
The invitation here,
Which is also fundamentally a spiritual invitation,
Is to recognize or remember that what we experience on the inside of what we are is to simply experience how we are perceiving.
Our emotional experience is in many ways mirroring the stories we are telling.
And spirituality,
And especially moments or practices like this,
Where we are invited into stillness,
Invites us to see a deeper truth.
And part of the deeper truth that we are invited to see in our human journey,
Or called a spiritual journey,
In many ways is remembering what this life thing is really about.
And the misunderstanding that we so often assume is that life is about getting somewhere in the future.
That life is about getting something from the world,
Being seen a certain way.
And all of these assumptions carry an interpretation that says it's possible for life and other people to be in your way.
It carries the assumption that it's possible for life to be a problem.
And the more we are open to see what life is really about,
We start to recognize that the experiences we encounter in life are ultimately,
Even though it can be difficult to see,
Are ultimately there to support us in our real human journey.
What is that real human journey?
Well,
I guess in a simple way,
We can say that the journey is one of growth.
The journey is one of development.
The journey is one of fearing less and loving more.
A journey of seeing more of what is true and letting go of what is not true.
Do you see how much of these things are so closely related to the present moment?
And it's not so much about where you're going in life.
It is much more about an inner growth than it is about what you collect on the surface.
And then I want to ask you another question as it relates to your human journey.
Would you agree that the most valuable aspects of your journey are somehow more related to learning how to love well than it is about any trinkets you've collected?
If you examine the things in your life that are genuinely valuable,
And by value I mean allows your heart to be at peace,
Allows you to have beautiful relationships with others.
Can you see that those gifts are those developments or areas of growth?
In some way,
Mirror your ability to be present and to be at peace.
Mirrors your capacity to not run away from what at first seems fearful.
Do you see this part of the human journey?
In many ways where if we look back,
There were so many things to be afraid of,
But as you go through your human journey and you move through those fears,
You start to see more and more that actually there's less to be afraid of.
Which means I don't need to run away from life.
Which means life is not the problem that I thought it was.
What I thought was against me,
I discovered it was for me.
Is this not a great summary of the human journey thus far?
The problem that might seem to be there now,
How many times have you been in this situation where you encountered something that you were certain was against you,
Only later to discover that it was a necessary part of the learning?
What you thought was a problem was actually an opportunity,
Even though maybe you didn't understand how or why,
But you know,
The deeper invitation here isn't to somehow always understand why or how,
But it's to understand the landscape that you're swimming in.
It's to understand the foundation of life itself.
In this,
We don't necessarily lean on our own understanding.
We lean on a trust that somehow knows all is well,
Even if I don't understand how.
I can encounter what appears to be problems,
But knowing that I've been in this situation many times before,
Somehow within me I know that this problem is an opportunity.
And so sure,
My mind has 10,
000 different stories of why I should be afraid.
But maybe in this instance,
I can recognize a courage,
I can recognize a support,
And I can find within me a willingness,
A humility,
To be open to see how this is for me.
And you see,
It's not a requirement,
It's not a demand,
It's not a should.
And what it really is,
Is a deeper honesty.
A deeper honesty that says,
I see that my mind is turning this into something that's against me.
But in the deeper honesty,
I can see that I don't know that that's really true.
A deeper honesty that recognizes,
I see that what I'm scared of is all my stories about it,
Rather than being scared of the reality of what is.
You see,
My friends,
So much of the human journey,
As I've said,
It's a journey of fearing less and loving more.
And the fundamental truth,
Which is also a deep spiritual truth,
Is that in reality there's actually nothing to fear.
And so in effect,
We are encountering the things that we fear,
So that we can see there is nothing to fear.
So that we can see that we don't have to be afraid.
However,
In order to see that,
You must encounter the things you fear.
And these things we fear,
We call them problems.
And this journey of life in its most authentic nature,
In its deepest spiritual depth,
Is fundamentally wanting to wake you up to the love that is.
But in order for that to happen,
You must be willing to face the things that you fear.
The fear you encounter is not a problem.
It is the doorway,
The opportunity to the love that you crave.
And I hope that you see that this has been your whole life thus far.
This has been the single lesson you've encountered.
And now the problem that appears to be showing now is simply another flavor of that lesson.
So let's breathe and turn toward life with a deeper willingness,
A humility,
And a courage to see what's really true.
Thanks for meditating with me today.
