In this practice we will explore how the three doors,
Stillness of body,
Silence of inner speech,
And spaciousness of mind can support us to bring what is difficult in life or challenging,
An experience of reaction,
To bring it to our practice and to feel the support in our practice in a way that this limited experience of oneself can release.
And in that space of releasing a fresh healing possibility can emerge.
So take a moment now and assume a comfortable position.
If possible,
One where you're upright or perhaps resting,
Supported,
So that your chest is open and your breath is natural.
And bring your attention first to the stillness of your body,
Turning inward and letting stillness support you to be,
To release the imprint of activity,
Of doing,
And to rest.
Feel the stillness from the crown of your head through the soles of your feet.
And even as there's movement within and around you,
The stillness of being has no argument with that movement.
Allow your stillness and connection to stillness to support you.
And as you become aware of being,
Allow this sense of being to support you to allow your experience,
However it is occurring in this moment.
Again,
Releasing any struggle to change or to make something happen and just being.
There's a goodness here.
There's a refuge here.
And you can trust this.
And as you rest,
Turn towards the inner silence by listening and hearing it,
Even as inner voices may be moving within you or sounds around you may pull your attention away.
Bring your attention back and focus until you hear and connect with the inner silence that is always present,
Always available.
Rest in this ocean of silence.
Sounds and voices like waves and currents.
But there is support in the silence to release and to rest.
And as you rest,
Awareness emerges that is naturally fresh and alive and connects directly,
Simply with the goodness of being.
And as you connect with being,
You may discover there's a sense of inner richness,
A freshness of possibility in this moment.
And this awareness is trustworthy.
But your cup of tea,
Your strength in this moment is important to you in order to bring it out to the surface.
And the configuration ofๅฆ And this awareness is trustworthy and is a refuge.
And as you bring this sense of the openness of being and the light,
Your wake quality of awareness to your heart center now,
Connect with the openness of mind like a clear open sky such that all the movements of mind and imagination,
Of searching,
Of anticipation,
All of these movements of mind exhaust in the open sky of your being.
Rest here.
Aware.
Aware.
Connected.
And in the same way that you know the taste and feel of the coolness of water when you're thirsty,
You can know the quality of kindness because it is natural.
It is naturally present.
As easily as breathing in,
Feel that you are receiving this natural quality of kindness and let it move wherever it is needed within your body,
Emotions,
Mind.
Consider that in this moment you are rich with kindness because it is your nature.
It is natural and fundamental.
And this is a trustworthy refuge,
The warmth,
The natural warmth of your being.
And now into your practice,
Reflect if there is a recent experience of reactivity that you may have experienced in your life,
Whether it is in relation to yourself.
Perhaps you're worried about your health.
Perhaps there's a habit you're trying to break,
A self-harming habit.
You may be experiencing a relationship that is disappointing or challenging in some way.
Or you may be troubled by something that is occurring in your community or greater society.
Just notice if there's something that needs good quality attention that is living in you in a way that is causing unrest.
And as it comes into your awareness now,
Let stillness support you to really experience how this lives in your body and breath.
Let stillness support you as that door of stillness opens you to the healing spaciousness of being that allows experiences that may be frozen in us or held tight to release,
To move.
The spaciousness of being is a healing spaciousness.
Allow the light of awareness to shine in places of darkness,
Awareness without judgment or bias.
Remembering that deep ocean of silence can hold you and support you to be with your experience,
To let it move.
When we constrict our experience,
When we make ourselves small and tight,
We cut ourselves off from the resourcefulness of the space of being and from the active light of awareness that ignites our healing capacity,
The natural kindness.
So as you are supported to open and to be aware,
Again allow the simple kindness to flow where it is needed,
To touch places in your body,
To permeate and pervade emotions.
If thoughts move in your mind,
Remember the openness of the sky of the mind.
There's no need to control or impede the thoughts,
Just let them move.
They will naturally exhaust.
Allow yourself to be held in the openness,
Awareness and warmth of your being.
There's no need to do or to make any result,
But to continue to release the awareness of the space and to rest with the openness itself.
And that awareness will naturally activate the flow of healing qualities.
And as you have received the benefit of your good quality attention,
The natural warmth of being,
As easily as breathing out,
You become a source of goodness for others.
And so as we come to the end of our practice,
Bring this aspiration to mind and dedicate the benefit of your practice to others.
In liberating my own being,
May I benefit others.
