Going for refuge is an ancient Buddhist practice that helps us connect to a field of safety and love as a foundation for the path of meditation.
This is a practice of going for refuge called the Natural Refuge Tree.
It includes elements of traditional refuge practice combined with an emphasis on accessing the power of the natural world and the wakefulness of our own body through meditation.
Begin by coming down from the thinking mind into your feeling body.
Notice the heaviness of the body,
Its groundedness,
Its natural stability.
To connect to your body's groundedness,
Let your attention descend through the body and pull down at the base where your body comes into contact with the cushion or chair.
Notice the feeling of heaviness there,
Of groundedness.
Imagine that the base of your body is growing roots that reach deep down into the earth below.
Spreading and coiling outwards,
These roots anchor you to the ground.
Gradually,
Let your attention move back up these roots to the base of your spine and into your hips.
Feel into your hips,
Experiencing them as the wide base of a tree.
Still rooted deep in the earth.
Gradually move from your hips into the spine internally.
Feel into your spine and experience it as the trunk of this tree.
Strong and elongated,
But also supple.
Move up your tree trunk spine with your awareness,
Sensing into the mid-back,
Where the ribs curve.
Moving up that tree trunk spine to the place between your shoulder blades.
Sensing up into the base of your neck.
Sensing internally up the neck to the base of the skull.
Sensing this tree trunk up through the crown of your head.
Looking up with your mind-eye,
You can see the tree trunk continuing up into the sky above you,
Spreading out into a canopy of branches,
Leaves,
And blossoms above.
Gazing up into that canopy with your mind's eye,
You see the branches swaying gently in the wind,
Whispering in the breeze.
And as these branches move,
You begin to notice beings gazing down,
Faces appearing between the leaves.
The tree is not empty.
These branches are peopled with benevolent presences,
Those who have taught,
Inspired,
Guided,
And loved you throughout your life.
Without contriving or forcing,
Just notice whose faces naturally appear there.
Faces of those who love to be near.
Some may be transcendent,
Buddhas,
Bodhisattvas,
Animal spirits,
Guides,
Celestial beings.
Some may be historical,
Saints,
Sages,
Lineage masters,
Yogis,
Ancestors.
Some may be from this life,
Teachers,
Guides,
Kind relatives,
Loving friends and family,
Perhaps children and pets.
Some may be ones who are living,
And some are those who have passed on.
All appear as if they were truly present.
You not only see them,
But you feel their presence.
These benefactors are smiling,
Gazing down at you with eyes of loving kindness and compassion.
Bringing you down to your most authentic self,
Accepting every part of you unconditionally.
These benefactors are loving presences,
But they are also glowing with the light of wisdom.
It emanates from their true nature,
Beyond what you have conceived them to be.
This unconditional positive regard and natural wisdom flows down from their bodies,
Taking the form of a warm,
Heavy nectar made of light that begins to flow down the inside of the branches of the tree like sap.
This nectar flows down,
Entering the crown of your head,
Filling your head,
Neck,
Shoulders,
And arms,
Flowing down your arms,
Into your forearms,
Hands,
And fingers.
This healing golden light flows down the torso,
Into the diaphragm,
Filling your belly,
Abdomen,
Hips,
Thighs,
Calves,
Ankles,
Feet,
And toes.
This golden nectar flows through your entire body,
Nourishing you with unconditional love and boundless wisdom,
Flowing like a stream of sap through your refuge tree,
From the bodies of your benefactors.
Can you just receive this warm,
Heavy light into every cell of your body,
Into your subtle body,
Into every part of your heart and mind?
Receive this light into your struggles,
Into your fears,
Into your hopes,
Into parts of the self that are rigid or contracted,
Into your self-doubts,
Into your resistances,
Into a sense of lack,
The sense of things not being enough,
Into parts of the body that need healing and softening,
Into parts of the mind that need healing and softening.
Just receiving.
Allow this nectar to flow through you,
Into the roots and earth below,
Like the steady flow of a golden sap.
Receiving.
Nourishing.
Healing.
As you receive this light of unconditional love and wisdom from your benefactors,
Gradually the light gives way to its underlying nature,
Which is boundless,
Beyond separation,
Infinitely and naturally loving and wise.
The nature of this light is the nature of pure awareness itself.
As this emerges,
The sense of separation between self and benefactors,
Between self and world,
Begins to dissolve and open out into a limitless,
Spacious,
Boundless,
Luminous awareness.
Releasing all effort.
Allow this open,
Warm,
Infinite spaciousness to meditate you.
Not pushing anything away.
Not following after anything.
Not trying to create anything.
Just in an effortless,
Natural unfolding of whatever arises here and now.
If you leave these arisings alone,
They self-liberate.
Let the gaze of the pure witness be panoramic and open and inclusive.
Letting go of grasping.
Just be.
Just breathe.
Please,
God,
Signify your devotion.
We'll conclude with a dedication.
May all beings everywhere experience peace,
Contentment,
Healing,
And freedom.
May the natural world,
Its trees,
Animals,
Insects,
Plants,
And ecosystems be protected and restored.
May I recognize my benefactors in every person that comes my way.
