Music Dear friends,
Welcome to this meditation which I hope will bring you some benefit.
Let's begin as usual with one or two deep breaths.
Shallow breathing can't be good so let's take a couple of deep breaths for a change as we begin this meditation.
Breathing in and being aware that we're breathing in,
Breathing out and being aware that we're breathing out.
We begin by closing our eyes and bringing ourselves into this present moment.
Being really present,
Body and mind in the here and now.
Let's enjoy these few moments together.
Our opening words today come from Rita Clint.
Sometimes people appear in your life unexpectedly,
Like a gift from the universe.
You didn't even know you needed them or that you had called out silently to them.
They appear when you needed them most,
To lift you,
Educate you,
Wake you up or shine a light on your path.
They sprout the seed that was in you and patiently watch that seed emerge from the soil.
Sometimes it wears them out to water and fertilize you every single day as you grow.
This is a delicate time.
You as the plant and they as the nurturer.
You as the plant need them for your growth and they as your nurturer have to have the energy to believe in your growth.
Then one day you blossom and awaken to the beauty around you and rejoice.
The only thing you ask from them anymore is to celebrate the flower they have brought to life and to accept the riches you now will give to them.
Words from Rita Clint.
Let's pause for one minute of gratitude.
Welcome back.
So in this meditation we are going to compare life to a train journey.
This gives us a chance to exercise our imagination.
At birth we are brought onto a train.
We hardly have our eyes open.
And we know nothing about train stations.
We mostly laugh when we are played with.
We cry when we are hungry or in pain.
As we get on the train we are allocated a ticket.
The ticket is very hard to read.
We can't make out the expiry date or the destination station.
So it's put away for us.
Anyway,
Who cares about the destination when you've just come on board the train?
We meet people in our first carriage.
They are mostly kind people.
And most of the time they dode on us.
They say funny things like baba and goo goo.
And they make funny faces that make us laugh every time.
Sometimes they pass us around from one to the other.
Everyone is so pleased to see us.
One day they lift us by the arms.
They let our legs dangle on the floor.
And we discover we can walk by holding onto the seats.
Let's pause for another minute to allow the babies to grow a little.
Baby.
Welcome back.
As the journey continues we notice some people getting on and others getting off the train.
Some people getting off are carrying big cases and bags but other people just step off as they are.
We often wonder where the new people are coming from and we ask ourselves where the other people are going to.
Sometimes troublemakers come into our carriage.
These people call us bad names just because they see us as different from them.
But other people come to the rescue and when the troublemakers are gone we are told how to take care of ourselves and how to believe in ourselves.
That we all have a right to be on the train.
That we are all different and that that is a very good thing.
And there are lots of interesting things happening on the journey.
Sometimes people come on just to lecture and give directions.
Some of them very sure of themselves.
They tell us this is the way the journey should proceed and they seem very certain about the destination.
Some of us believe these people.
Some people pay no attention to them at all and try to figure out their own ideas as the journey goes on.
Some people don't even bother to ask where the train is headed.
That seems odd.
Let's take another pause now to notice all the directions that have been offered to us for this journey.
Have we tried them out?
What conclusions have we come to?
Welcome back.
And of course different incidents happen along the way as the train journey continues.
One day the catering car breaks down and for a while everyone is short of food.
Once or twice we remember a big row starting in one carriage and it spread over into the whole train and people started beating each other up.
That was very frightening,
People even got killed before the row finally ended.
Other things happen too.
There can be an epidemic every now and then and many people fall ill.
Some die.
Another day there are power shortages,
The lights go out and we have to manage with candles.
At times people even jump off the train.
They feel too scared to stay on board.
That is a great pity and everyone is very sad when that happens.
Everyone says why didn't those people tell me they were scared and I would have looked after them.
We all would if only we had known.
Then along the way we come across junctions where other train lines intersect with ours.
You can change trains at these places,
Just like you change direction at a fork in the road.
You often wonder where the other track might lead but once you make your choice you have to stick with it until the next junction at least.
Let's pause to consider the junctions we have encountered,
The direction decided upon.
Maybe we did right,
Maybe not.
But here we are and let's give thanks for what has come to us on this particular route.
Welcome back.
Sometimes you fall ill and you think you might have to leave the train but then you recover.
Some days you turn around to speak to someone and you notice them missing.
You try to remember where did you last see them?
Where did they get off?
Then you think why didn't I pay more attention when they were in the carriage with me?
We didn't even get to say goodbye or how good it was to have been on the train with you.
You realise you are busy thinking of your own plans,
Daydreaming about the future and worrying yourself about the past.
Then one day out of the blue there is a beep in your pocket.
You reach in and you find your ticket.
You notice that it is flashing red.
The next station is where you have to get off.
You had completely forgotten you even had a ticket.
Forgotten that you would ever have to get off this train.
You are so caught up on the journey.
All of a sudden you realise that you have to finish the trip.
There might or there might not be time for a quick goodbye.
Hardly time to pack your bags.
You had become so familiar with the train and chatting with the people still on board you just forgot.
You never thought of the destination.
So you get yourself ready to get off just as your ticket expires.
It's night time outside.
You can't see the station name or the platform.
And you can't make out the outline of anyone who might be waiting.
The train stops.
It's time to get off.
Nervously you step down.
The message of this meditation is that our lives are like a train journey.
We get on.
We meet our family.
We have no thoughts as to the destination.
It's a miracle that we are on the train at all.
People come and go as the train moves from station to station.
Do we pay enough attention to them while they are in the carriage with us?
Do we take their presence for granted?
It can be a long or a short journey.
We don't know when our ticket will expire.
The question is,
How can we make good use of this journey?
The purpose of today's meditation is to notice and be thankful for the people and places we see on the journey of life.
The people we meet.
The people getting on.
Staying a while.
Then leaving.
What are people staying on after we get off?
We have to remember every day that this journey is a gift.
Who could have imagined the train and us on it?
And we did absolutely nothing to deserve this ticket.
To earn this ticket.
Yet here we are.
Very,
Very strange this existence of ours.
Mary Oliver in her poem The Summer Day puts a question to us.
She asks,
Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
The Dalai Lama offers us this advice in relation to life's journey.
He says,
We are visitors on this planet.
We are here for 100 years at the very most.
During that period we must try to do something good,
Something useful with our lives.
If you contribute to other people's happiness,
You will find the true meaning of life.
Words of the Dalai Lama So the train has stopped to let us off.
The question is,
What next?
That is a question that has intrigued and fascinated people since the dawn of human intelligence.
Is this it?
Is there more?
Each of us can end the story here,
Or continue the story in a way that seems to make sense to us as individuals just now,
Each one of us having a different view as to what might happen next.
Here is just one possible ending to set your imagination on the way.
Everything is silent as you step onto the platform.
You look around in the blackness,
Trying to see where you are,
But nothing.
Then you notice a distant point of light in the sky.
It slowly gets bigger and bigger,
Brighter and brighter,
Like the dawning of a new day.
You notice the sound of your heart beating.
You haven't noticed it for years.
You hear the lapping of water.
This seems vaguely familiar.
You try to recall what is that half-forgotten sound.
Half forgotten,
Yet strangely familiar.
Then,
Yes,
You recall this was the sound you heard before you got on the train,
All those long years ago.
You ask yourself,
Have I been here before?
Have I come full circle?
Or is this a new beginning?
Questions.
Questions.
Questions without answers.
Except to say with the Dalai Lama,
We are visitors on this planet.
We are here for 100 years at the very most.
During that period we must try to do something good,
Something useful with our lives.
If you contribute to other people's happiness,
You will find the true meaning of life.
Namaste.
