See you.
It is important to be prepared for the satsang,
So if you are comfortable and you are sitting in a place where you won't be disturbed,
Making sure that your body is upright,
That the spine allows for receptivity,
Meaning that the spine is straight and allowing the energy flow to happen without constrictions.
And already this state of meditation,
Whatever is going on around you or inside of you,
This state of meditation allows for receptivity.
And receptivity is a very important point that I have spoken about before,
But perhaps in respect to meditational practice,
I can highlight one wonderful aspect of receptivity,
Which means,
Being receptive means that you are opening up to aspects of yourself that are present all the time inside of you and around you,
But that your mind creates a veil whereby you are unable to really see that those aspects are there,
Present in your life,
Present inside of you or around you.
And so receptivity is the process by which you remove that veil or that perspective,
Limited perspective or belief system that holds on to a habitual reactive state or holds on to a way of thinking or a way of feeling that compromises being receptive,
Meaning being happy to receive the wonderful gifts that the universe provides us with,
That sometimes we're not able to see or understand simply because we are distracted by the limitations that very often become our focus.
So in practice,
In meditational practice,
Being receptive simply means that you are present to this moment.
So if you're here in this present moment,
If you're here now,
Aware,
Then there is no possibility that awareness connected to this present moment doesn't open up to the many gifts that are present within the universe.
As you let go of these ideas or these thoughts or belief systems that very much anchor themselves within our past thinking or our past feeling or our past experiences or even our future perspectives that are connected to past feelings or past thoughts or past experiences that may have hurt us or may have made us think in a way that is out of tune with this present moment,
We let go of such,
Then already the gift of being here means that you're present and aware of that which you truly are,
Your being,
Rather than your perspective about who you are.
And if you're present to this aspect of yourself that is just flowing,
Being yourself,
Being that which you are in this moment without the added weight of,
Or burdens of thoughts,
Negative thoughts or just heavy thoughts or victimizing thoughts or thoughts that bring you to a point where you're judging yourself or others,
If you let go of all these aspects that so very often weigh us down and prevent us from just opening up and being present to ourselves in this wonderful way that life allows us to celebrate in this wonderful way where you're just happy that you're breathing,
That you're just happy that you're alive,
Present here in this beautiful,
Miraculous creation that is life.
If you let go of all those thoughts and those feelings that connect us to the past and come back to this present moment,
Then it is natural to be very receptive and as you open up to such receptivity,
It is natural that deep within yourself this flow now begins to move beyond the constrictions,
Beyond the challenges,
This flow,
Deep inner flow of joy,
This deep inner flow of bliss begins to move beyond those constrictions or limitations that created a picture of what the mind believes to be reality.
And now you begin to recognize the subtle aspects of what it means to just be here in this present moment.
And being here means that you just open your eyes to things that have always been part of your experience but that you don't recognize,
That you don't see because the mind is so very busy with other things.
So part of being receptive is coming back to the present moment but is also part of being receptive is coming back to just recognizing the simplicity of experiences around you and being grateful for experiences around you that support this natural flow.
So the simplicity of creation,
Just nature,
The sounds of nature,
The colors of nature,
The sensations that nature creates,
This is an example of one of the simplest beautiful forms of manifestation in the present moment that we can come back to and recognize that this is here,
Present and communicating to us.
When we connect to such aspects of nature we are connecting to the present moment.
Of course our minds will create a thought or a perhaps deduction about what is going on around us.
Oh today it's a little bit windy,
Today it's a little bit too sunny,
Today it's a little bit too hot.
Of course the mind will be there in the background trying to create a sense of control of the experience but the nature that we're exposed to,
Whether it be strong sunshine or whether it be just the strong wind that blows from the mountains or whether it be just the cold,
It's not so cold now but in winter whether it be the cold,
Coldness that is the chill that is in the air,
All that communication is meaningful when we are connected to those aspects of simplicity that communicate beyond the thoughts that the mind is captivated by.
So we have a relationship with the simplicity of life that speaks to another part of our being and that aspect is what is flowing,
The communication with the simplicity of life is what is being understood beyond the mind and that is so very important to be present to.
It's not just being present to your thoughts,
It's not about being present to what you think or how you feel that is important.
The first step is coming back to a state of presence where you're present to the simplicity of life because if you're present to the complexity of your thoughts and you're aware,
You're more aware perhaps of your thoughts because meditation allows you to be aware so you become aware of things that perhaps most people are unaware of,
That there are thoughts,
That there are negative thoughts and that there are positive thoughts and that there are thoughts that you enjoy and thoughts that you really don't enjoy.
Being aware of in meditation part of the practice means that awareness isn't really a matter of choice,
Your awareness isn't just you choose to be aware of certain aspects of how you think or how you feel or your experience in life and then say to other aspects of awareness,
Sorry I don't really want this to be part of my awareness,
That there isn't a choice in awareness,
Awareness becomes aware of all that is going on so if you're more aware of your thinking and your thinking subconsciously or even consciously is very much a negative flow of thought then that flow that you are connected to because you're connected to the awareness of your thinking seems negative.
This is why it's important to come back to the simplicity of nature,
The simplicity of the creative force within nature which is manifest in nature but it's also manifest in other simple things in the five senses and being aware of the five senses not to satisfy those senses,
Not to to indulge in those senses but rather just to be aware that they communicate to the simplicity of nature in a very specific way beyond just the desires and needs to satisfy those aspects.
So the sense of smell is more than just breathing in oxygen and breathing in air to sustain life,
This sense of smell can move to a space within the realms of breathing where smell can become ecstatic so you can breathe in the fragrance of a beautiful rose and that speaks to your heart,
The simplicity of the fragrance speaks to your heart in a language that's far more interesting than being aware of the negative flow of your thoughts and this simplicity can be applied on all levels to all senses so it's not just the sense of smell,
The sense of touch,
To be able to stroke a wonderful aspect of nature say you come up and you meet some beautiful cat that's walking in nature and the cat looks at you and says hello and you go up and stroke the cat that communication is very important it is an aspect of communication that's very often forgotten in the modern experience of living simply because we are so preoccupied with our thoughts that the time that we give to come back to the simplicity of stroking a cat or smelling the fragrance of a blossom or touching the ground with your feet so that you sense what it's like to be grounded and connected to the earth or just touching the beautiful crystal that you see or the beautiful shell that you see on the beach or just opening up to the wonderful warmth of the Sun all these sensations are more important in the beginning when opening up to the state of receptivity where you are opening up to a communication that speaks to you beyond just your mind for most of us when we sit in meditation we sit in meditation and our awareness then extends to the awareness of thinking or the awareness of feeling the awareness of thinking and feeling of course is a valid experience and it's important but if we give all our energy all the energy flow to just that aspect of ourselves then we come to a state which I believe many spiritual practitioners have reached that is being disassociated the fundamental aspect of your being not being grounded not being present to that which really is important being caught in a world that is too conceptual caught in a world that's too much there there is too much feeling in that world and so being disassociated with that which grounds you the senses and the physical body and the physical aspect of earth and its communication so this is what is so very easy to put into practice and when I say simplicity of the beauty that is around us of course I'm not judging that breathing in the fragrance of a flower is not as highly evolved as thinking about a philosophical aspect of life I'm not saying that this is a lesser type of meditation it is the fundamental aspect of spiritual practice see if we are not in connection to the flow and the very basic aspects of the flow then we are never going to be connected to that which provides us with life and that is the creative force that is within the universe that is flowing through our bodies and then flowing through our thoughts if we're not grounded in our body we become disassociated with that which sustains life and we get caught in a very confused world and our awareness then extends to all sorts of thoughts and then we begin to think too much we begin to feel too much and that sense of over sensitivity that's experience of oversensitivity to the world being just overly too sensitive to whatever experience is happening in your mind or whatever feeling is happening inside of you is a way to sabotage spiritual practice it's a it's a way of disassociating with the natural flow that sustains life energy that makes that creates a fundament where you can connect to happiness and bliss and joy and fall into thinking that very often is too negative even if you're not aware of it not that all thinking is negative when you are as connected to the basic elements of nature and when you're connected to the basic communications that are happening throughout all aspects of your body and through all senses that you possess then that structure that you create allows for a receptivity to higher thinking meaning that beyond the thoughts that revolve around yourself beyond the thoughts that revolve around how you feel what you think or your experience of the past or this or that or whatever beyond this self-centered preoccupation that most humans find themselves caught by there is a thinking that is of higher consciousness and that is the thought which I call selfless service meaning that the thought has nothing really to do with yourself it has to do with the greatness of life has to do with the experience of humanity it has to do with the wider greater expanse of thinking that most most of us just think about occasionally when we have the time so selfless service it doesn't mean that you're serving everything and forgetting yourself but you are seeing yourself in everything you're connecting to everything and everything becomes then a reflection of the greater this this connectedness this oneness that is life and so whatever you are doing just the fact that you smile for no other reason than the fact that you are alive here in this present moment and enjoying the flow of being you're not smiling to get something or you're not smiling because you've received something you're just smiling because you're happy just as a mystic would sitting in meditation they smile the mystic will smile not because they won the lottery or because they fulfilled some self self-orientated desire or self-orientated need but simply because it's wonderful to be alive I've seen mystic smile in this way I remember a Zen practitioner a very wonderful Zen nun around the age of 60 65 sitting there in the Zen garden just smiling in meditation so wasn't preoccupied with oh gosh so many thoughts and I'm aware of this and I need to work with this seemed like she was totally peaceful no thoughts at all no thoughts about herself just the thought that this world this creative space of the Zen garden it's just beautiful and was just sitting there smiling just like the blossom gives of itself so that you can smell and enjoy the fragrance of the blossom this nun was giving of herself through her positivity through her smile she was just sitting there exuding the sense of stillness and this sense of serenity in the sense of aliveness that just reminded everyone who looked at her that meditation is more than just being focused on oneself meditation is about being connected with the greater aspect of life it is so wonderful when you you have such reminders around you and there are reminders there aren't so many wise monks or nuns or mystics it's very often the feedback that we get for most of us living in modern in the modern world is stress and anxiety and focus on yourself and focus on this problem and worry about this and stress about that we don't have beautiful reminders well we do nature is a beautiful reminder hence why I'm suggesting that you come back to the simplicity of your practice rather than just be aware of the complexity of your mind or your feelings not that you need to negate those but just first build upon the fundamental structure where you're receptive to the life force and you're receptive through your senses you're receptive through your body you're receptive through your awareness of nature and your connectedness with nature so that your mind the brain structure can be receptive to the higher aspects of thinking which always mean that you're receptive to the solutions rather than the problems so if you find yourself today worrying or thinking about too many problems thinking about too many desires thinking about too many needs remind yourself that is the way that most human beings spend their time but it actually gets no one anywhere remind yourself of this wonderful picture of this mystic this nun sitting in the garden and just in gratitude for being just positive so then as you remember this picture as your mind recognizes this picture create the intentional activity of moving beyond just waiting move with the energy communicate to the subtlety of nature be active in your communication to the very basic fundaments that support you the simplicity of your experience breathe in more touch and experience through the sense of touch more the world that is communicating to you make sure that you're grounded make sure that your feet understand that they are part of the experience make sure that you hear the beautiful sounds that create harmony around you make sure that you taste a beautiful sensations that are around you as you drink water or as you chew onto your food make sure that you're aware of the experience so you're bringing mindfulness into this present moment whatever your experience is in this present moment through the senses through your connection to nature that is so very powerful and when that intentional activities put forth in what you're doing then your meditation begins to be receptive to higher consciousness not just the egoic thoughts that are based on needs and desires as you free yourself from the mundane complexity you come back to the profound simplicity of being deep breath letting go and gently allowing yourself to move to a deeper state of consciousness we will now continue with the who meditation you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you
