Remembering Our Innate Goodness

In this meditation, we settle into stillness and presence with mindfulness of the breath, the body, the mind, and emotions. From this place of centeredness, we explore what it feels like to connect with our own inner nobility, our innate goodness. Our true nature is good, and when we can fully connect and trust this nature, we can find peace and ease in this moment.

Transcript

So our practice today is on connecting with the strength of our spirit and this deeper essence.

So we kind of remember who we are beyond any diagnosis or symptom or any identity or role that we're taking on in the world.

And Jack Kornfield talks about this being our Buddha nature or the Buddha gold in whatever our religious belief is or spiritual bend.

We can call it what we want,

But I think it's our innate goodness.

And so I wanted to share this story from Jack Kornfield before we start our practice.

This was written in the Lion's Roar magazine.

In a large temple north of Thailand's ancient capital,

Sukhothai,

There once stood an enormous and ancient clay Buddha.

Though not the most handsome or refined work of Thai Buddhist art,

It had been cared for over a period of 500 years and had become revered for its sheer longevity.

Violent storms,

Changes of government,

And invading armies had come and gone,

But the Buddha endured.

At one point,

However,

The monks who tended the temple noticed that the statue had begun to crack and would soon be in need of repair and repainting.

After a stretch of particularly hot,

Dry weather,

One of the cracks became so wide that a curious monk took his flashlight and peered inside.

What shone back at him was a flash of brilliant gold.

Inside this plain old statue,

The temple residents discovered one of the largest and most luminous gold images of Buddha ever created in Southeast Asia.

Now uncovered,

The golden Buddha draws throngs of devoted pilgrims from all over Thailand.

The monks believe that this shining work of art had been covered in plaster and clay to protect it during times of conflict and unrest.

In much the same way,

Each of us has encountered threatening situations that lead us to cover our innate nobility.

Just as the people of Sukhothai had forgotten about the golden Buddha,

We too have forgotten our essential nature.

Much of the time we operate from the protective layer,

But the primary aim of,

In this case,

Buddhist psychology is to help us see beneath this armoring and bring our original goodness into the world.

So maybe we might set our intention with our practice of seeing our inner nobility and the beauty of all beings everywhere.

So if we haven't already,

Begin to settle into a comfortable posture,

Seated or lying down,

Listening to the needs of the body in this moment,

And if we need to rest,

Allow the body to do that.

Settling into a posture that feels both awake and alert and also relaxed and at ease.

Closing the eyes if that feels comfortable,

Otherwise just softening the gaze.

Opening to these words,

O nobly born,

O you of glorious origins,

Remember your radiant true nature,

The essence of mind,

Trust it,

Return to it,

It is home.

So we might take a few slow cleansing breaths here.

Breathing in fully into the lower lungs and the belly,

And as we exhale,

Letting go,

Letting go of anything that we might be holding onto in the mind,

In the body.

A nice,

Slow,

Prolonged exhale.

Allowing the breath to fall into a natural rhythm,

Letting go of any need to control it,

Just seeing what happens if we allow the breath to breathe us in a sense.

Receiving the inhale and letting go of the exhale.

Bringing a pure,

Mindful attention to our next breath.

Remembering that mindfulness is intentionally present and free of judgment to the extent that we're able.

Can we bring this mindful attention to our next breath?

Noticing where in the body we feel the breath.

And wherever our attention naturally falls,

Seeing if we can follow the breath from the inhale through to the end of the exhale.

And if our attention wanders as it naturally does,

We begin again,

Noticing where in the body we feel the breath.

Noticing what it feels like to breathe,

Just one breath at a time.

Becoming curious about each part of the breath.

We might even notice the space between breaths.

Allowing the breath to be our anchor back into this eternal present moment.

Allowing this next breath to bring us more fully into our bodies as we bring this kind and gentle attention to this body.

Noticing any sensations in the feet and the legs.

We might notice pleasant sensations,

Unpleasant.

Sometimes it's more neutral.

To the extent that we're able,

Letting go of judgment or any need to fix or change.

This is what it's like to be in this body.

Experiencing sensations as they arise and pass away.

Allowing our mindful attention to rest in the hips and the pelvic floor.

To the lower belly and the low back.

Noticing sensations throughout the abdomen.

Up into the chest.

Feeling from the more superficial layers down into the deeper layers of muscles and organs and nerves.

Noticing any sensations in the back.

From the low back,

The middle back,

And the upper back.

Resting our attention down into the fingers,

Hands,

And up through the arms.

Allowing our kind attention to open to any sensations in the neck and the throat.

Up into the face and the head.

Giving ourselves permission to feel.

Very gently shifting our attention to the state of the mind in this moment.

What do we notice?

Are there images,

Words,

Common themes,

Stories that we're familiar with?

With mindful attention,

There's nothing to fix.

We're simply noticing this is the state of the mind in this moment.

With kind curiosity,

Can we open to things as they are in the mind?

Very gently opening this mindful attention to our emotions.

What's our general state of being and feeling in this moment?

With kindness and openheartedness,

Can we say,

Yes,

This belongs?

Being with things just as they are.

And from this space of mindfulness and openheartedness,

We might begin to recall a time in our lives where we really felt connected to our innate goodness.

We felt a sense of inner strength.

We knew our inner nobility.

Or someone else saw this in us.

Noticing the details of this situation or the feelings that we are feeling when we know our innate goodness.

Notice what it feels like in the body to connect with this nobility.

This deeper essence of who we are,

This goodness.

We might recall a feeling of trust in ourselves,

Strength,

Competence.

We might invite this experience to become as big as it would like to be.

This deep knowing of our goodness,

Of our strength of spirit.

Intentionally giving our attention to this experience.

What are we noticing in our bodies as we connect with this nobility?

It might be a memory in the past,

And we might ask,

How is it manifesting in the body in this moment?

This innate goodness that is always present with us.

Do we feel it in a particular place in the body?

What does it feel like?

What happens in the mind when we connect with this inner goodness?

We might invite this innate goodness to permeate every cell of our being.

The body,

The mind,

Our emotions,

Our spirit.

Invite it in.

Is it possible to trust this inner nobility?

Allowing our entire being to rest in this innate goodness.

As we continue to rest in this inner nobility,

We might open to the words from Thomas Merton.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts,

The depths of their hearts,

Where neither sin,

Nor desire,

Nor self-knowledge can reach,

The core of their reality.

The person that each one is in the eyes of the divine.

If only they could all see themselves as they really are.

If only we could see each other that way all the time.

There would be no more war,

No more hatred,

No more cruelty,

No more greed.

I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.

We'll take one or two more minutes in silence here.

As we close the practice,

Once again,

Allowing these words to guide us as we move forward.

Oh,

Nobly born.

Oh,

You of glorious origins.

Remember your radiant true nature,

The essence of mind.

Trust it.

Return to it.

It is home.

We might take one or two slow cleansing breaths.

Opening the eyes if the eyes were closed.

Gently moving the body if that feels comfortable.

Thank you so much.

Reviews

This was so wonderful I have listened to it 3 times today 🙏🏼🌺🍃❤️ so much love to you Theresa

Thank you, Theresa! Sometimes the clay can feel so thick, but thank you for the reminder of the gold within. It was so nice to hear words from beloved Buddhist and Christian teachers pointing to the same reality. Lovely. Blessings to you and all! 🙏