Dear Friends,
Welcome to this meditation which I hope will offer you some inspiration at the start of a new day.
The idea is to spend a few moments each morning reflecting on how you might go about your day,
Not setting out into the day without a plan,
Without some idea as to how you might cope with obstacles and manage to bring goodness and kindness into the day.
Let's begin by bringing ourselves into a time of stillness,
By closing our eyes,
Relaxing and for now allowing everything to just be.
This is a wonderful never-to-be-repeated moment in a never-to-be-repeated day.
A never-to-be-repeated week lies ahead of us.
This is a week full of possibilities,
A clean sheet.
Our first thought must be one of gratitude,
Thankfulness for our existence in the here and the now,
Appreciating the simple things such as the air that we breathe.
The good air is such an ever-present gift that we can easily take it for granted.
So for a change,
Let's pay attention to our breathing,
Our breathing in and our breathing out.
The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh recommends words such as the following when we concentrate on our breath.
As I breathe in,
I am aware that I'm breathing in,
And as I breathe out,
I am aware that I'm breathing out.
These simple words bringing us to an awareness of the breath,
They can help to bring us back to peace,
The peace that we enjoy in every present moment.
So now let's spend a few moments allowing ourselves to just be,
To enjoy simply being here and at rest.
A one-minute pause now.
I'm sure you will have come across a poem by Pablo Neruda.
The poem is called Keeping Quiet.
This is how it goes.
Now we will count to 12 and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the earth,
Let's not speak in any language.
Let's stop for a second and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment without rush,
Without engines.
We would all be together in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in the cold sea would not harm whales,
And the man gathering salt would not look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
Wars with gas,
Wars with fire,
Victories with no survivors,
Would put on clean clothes and walk about with their brothers in the shade,
Doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused with total inactivity.
Life is what it's about.
I want no about.
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded about keeping our lives moving,
And for once could do nothing,
Perhaps a huge silence might interrupt this sadness,
This sadness of never understanding ourselves and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us,
As when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive.
Now I'll count up to 12,
And you keep quiet and I will go.
Words of Pablo Neruda.
I think this gentle reminder calls for another minute of reflection,
So let's pause again for 60 seconds.
Welcome back.
These moments of quiet reflection in the mornings are designed to set us off on a positive track.
Each time we listen to a meditation like this,
We are encouraged to set a theme for the day or the week ahead.
Maybe our theme for the week ahead could be patience.
If that's what we decide to do,
Then to help motivate us,
Here is a well-known story called The Empty Boat.
You may have heard it before.
A monk decides to meditate alone,
Away from his monastery.
He takes his boat out into the middle of the lake.
He moors it there,
Closes his eyes and begins his meditation.
After a few hours of undisturbed silence,
He suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own.
With his eyes still closed,
He senses his anger rising,
And by the time he opens his eyes,
He's ready to scream at the boatman,
Who dared to disturb his meditation.
But when he opens his eyes,
He sees it's an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.
At that moment,
The monk achieves self-realisation and understands that the anger is within him.
It merely needs the bump of an external object It merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.
From then on,
Whenever he came across someone who irritated him,
Or provoked him to anger,
He reminded himself,
The other person is merely an empty boat.
The anger is within me.
This story contains a message for all of us,
For me and for you.
The message is that in reality,
We all have some anger within us.
All it needs is someone,
Or something like an empty boat,
To provoke it.
Let's pause for another minute of stillness.
Some thoughts for the week ahead.
My idea arising from this reflection would be to try to avoid anger.
As you know,
It's easy to be patient when you're expecting trouble,
And you've decided that you will be patient.
But if you haven't made the decision,
This is when the trouble arises.
Someone comes along and presses the wrong button,
And we can become angry.
So the message for me this week is,
Watch out.
Be prepared for that unexpected button to be pressed.
And then,
Pause.
I wonder what the message for you might be?
Here are some ideas.
First of all,
Remember the monk and the boat.
Another one,
Stop and be still before the start of a project.
Pause before replying.
Pause before we reply,
Or before we interrupt someone.
Take a one-minute break between activities.
Don't rush from one job to the next without a mindful pause.
Let the phone ring twice,
And take a breath before answering.
And before making a call,
Take a breath and wish well to the other person.
And before making a call,
Take a breath and wish well to the other person.
The important thing is to make today and each day a good day.
A good day for ourselves and for the people we encounter.
So that is today's morning motivational reflection.
A big thank you for taking the time to listen to these thoughts.
Keep safe.
Keep well.
Let your light shine.
Namaste
