Dear friends,
Welcome to this time of meditation which I have entitled imagining a world.
So come into the present moment and enjoy this space.
Before the opening bell some opening words and these are from Emily Dickinson.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
So let us first of all come to rest in this present moment.
Let us lower or close our eyes and just be here now.
Notice our breathing in the good air.
Just for a few moments notice our breathing in and our breathing out.
Try to leave aside any worries or plans and see if we can for a few seconds relax any tension in our bodies.
So now we are going to allow ourselves the opportunity to use our imagination for a few minutes.
After each suggestion spend a couple of moments really imagining that you have woken up to a new day in that place.
Picture what it would be like and how you would feel.
Imagine a world at peace.
Imagine a world where no one goes to bed hungry.
Imagine a world where everyone has somewhere to live.
Imagine a world where everyone has a job that they like to do.
Imagine a world where everyone has enough to satisfy their needs.
Imagine a world where everyone has access to education.
Imagine a world where every child has access to education.
Imagine a world where healthcare is available to all as they need it.
Imagine a world where no one is left alone unless they want to be alone.
Imagine a world where old people are respected more and more with every extra year of life.
Imagine a world where everyone practices generosity.
Imagine a world where everyone is treated with kindness and kindness.
Imagine a world where no one takes what is not freely given to them.
Imagine a balanced environment where we put back as much as we take out.
Imagine a world where aid is generously given to countries who need it and without preconditions.
Imagine a world where the police are unarmed and maybe even unnecessary.
Imagine a world where missile defence systems are only needed to guard against a possible meteor strike.
Imagine a world where everyone has a few very special friends to call their own.
Imagine a world where everyone is treated with kindness and kindness.
Remember the words of John Lennon's song,
Imagine.
People who believe in meditation sit on their cushions or on their stools or on their chairs.
And this is a very beneficial practice.
It brings peace and calm to individual lives.
Then we get up off our mats and out of our chairs and we must try to face the challenge of bringing the goodness of those moments into everyday life,
A type of applied Buddhism.
These things that we have imagined can come to pass if enough people work to bring this about.
None of us can do everything,
But all of us working together can be a huge influence for good.
So the message of today's reflection is to see if the good life that we have imagined can be brought into operation in the world day by day.
In these efforts may you be blessed and rewarded by success.
O great life-giving spirit,
Whose commanding voice I hear in the winds,
And whose warm breath gives life to all the world,
Hear me,
One-seven billionth of the humans on planet earth.
I am a natural part of the universe,
As natural and necessary as the rocks,
The trees,
The boards and the mice,
No more important nor any less.
Let my spirit see the dynamic spirit of life in all that exists,
With no prejudice or malice towards any creation.
May I begin to remember who I am in the natural order of things,
As I stand in my own shallow pool of time.
May I come to know what time it is in my life and in all life.
O spirit of creation,
Let me remember every day that the moment will come when my sun will go down,
My river will join the vast ocean,
And this rock which has bounced along so many bumps will finally come to rest.
Give me a great sky for setting into,
A crystal-clean ocean for flowing into,
And an unpolluted earth for my final resting place.
Thank you for watching!
