I'm coming to you from the traditional lands of the Snuneymuxw First Nation,
Commonly known as Vancouver Island in Canada.
I'm in the forest near a lake,
Not far from my home,
As I wanted to immerse myself in nature and feel a physical connection to all of you.
So let's breathe together.
You can close your eyes if you like.
It's a remarkable thing to have this technology and to be able to sit together right here right now.
Connecting through gratitude and intention is a powerful experience.
Each of you are an integral part of this circle.
Let's embrace each other as well as the larger circles that ripple out.
The trees all around me have deep roots connected to the earth,
The same earth that connects all of us in this moment.
The ocean is just a short distance away from me.
That ocean is connected to all of the oceans,
Lakes,
Streams and rivers that flow in and out of the bodies of water,
Even the rain that connects all of us.
This air that each of us is breathing right now in these moments together is connected by billions of particles across the planet.
Your exhale is our collective inhale.
And let's acknowledge that our ancestors breathed the same air,
Drank the same water and walked the same earth as will our future generations.
We're all connected.
As we sit and practice together we can gently place our attention on the breath as it passes in and out of our nostrils,
As our chest rises and falls,
Or in the expansion and contraction in the belly.
This is our anchor.
Not something to weigh us down or feel heavy,
But a home base to place our focus on.
If the breath feels unsteady or challenging for you in any way you can choose something else.
The sounds you hear in the background,
A point of contact like the hands cupped gently in your lap,
Or where your seat makes contact with the chair or cushion.
The only suggestion is that your anchor be something steady and present.
The idea itself is to steady the mind and body in the present moment and placing our attention on something like the breath is always here.
Each inhale is now.
Each exhale is now.
When our minds wander,
And I did say when not if,
Because it's inevitable that our minds will wander from our point of focus.
Meditation has its roots in Buddhism and the teachings of the Buddha,
But many early meditators are surprised to learn that the Buddha's mind also wandered.
The key is,
And this is one of those very simple yet profound teachings,
Is that when we realize that our mind has wandered,
In that instant we are once again present.
Our societies and our culture often push us to be self-critical.
When we have these moments of realization with our focus,
We may be tempted to think that we are doing something wrong,
And that some sort of correction is necessary.
We can be aware of this tendency,
And then with strategic and skillful intention,
Simply return the focus to our home base,
And do so with loving kindness.
Jack and Tara teach this idea of training the puppy,
Which is a beautiful sentiment that I think resonates for all of us.
When we zoom out for a moment,
And see the big picture of these practices,
This repetitive occurrence,
Exercised multiple times throughout any given sit,
Is what builds our mindfulness muscles.
This is the exercise.
Our tendencies,
Again,
Are to react to what happens,
Often with criticism.
The exercise is a response rather than a reaction.
It's a beautiful thing to see how this translates into our daily lives,
And all of the opportunities we may have to respond rather than react.
When someone cuts me off in traffic,
Again,
That's a when,
Not an if,
Right?
I can take a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath,
And respond with some loving kindness,
First and foremost to myself.
What is going to serve me and my state of mind?
Reaction,
Frustration and anger,
Or a gentle gesture of self-care?
The other driver is long gone,
And what good comes of chasing after them in our minds or our hearts?
What serves our well-being?
This is a response rather than a reaction.
This is just one example of so many in our daily lives,
And it brings home the effect that something so simple as a response to a wandering mind can have.
Many of us will actually start to chuckle a little inside when we have these moments of awakening.
There's that puppy,
And we don't need to make it any more complicated than this.
We want it to be basic and easy to remember,
Right?
So,
What's the segue,
Then,
From this simple practice into this idea that we're all connected?
As I said at the beginning,
There are millions of meditators around the world.
Whether we're practicing all alone or together in Sangha with others,
Isn't it a profound and comforting experience to know that thousands of others are engaged in this simple practice?
We don't need to see or be seen by them,
But we know that our collective experience connects us.
We live in a very challenging world,
And the sensational,
Mostly bad or negative happenings make the evening news.
Our negativity bias and very human inclination to gawk at catastrophic events is what drives that.
But just the awareness of that tendency can help ease our anxiety about these attention-grabbing global events.
And just like returning to the breath,
We can return to the realization that meanwhile,
Many people are still practicing their mindfulness.
We don't need to see or be seen by them.
We can trust in this silent,
Connected energy.
What we can see,
Feel and experience are all of these elements that were mentioned in the intro.
The trees,
The earth,
The water,
The air,
The fact that every being that has ever lived also lived right here on this planet.
We're just at the point of full moon right now.
If you have clear skies and you can get a glimpse,
Know that all of us see that same moon.
We're all hurtling through space at over 100,
000 kilometers per hour.
We're all buckled up in this vehicle together.
Any ideas of separation are truly an illusion.
As we return to our home base in our meditations,
We are at the same time returning to each other in a larger home base,
Our planet earth.
As you come in contact with trees or plants or the earth itself in the coming days,
Take a moment to look deeply to see how all of these earthly life forms,
As well as the rock and seemingly dead,
Connect us.
As you drink,
Bathe,
Swim or in any way connect with water in the coming days,
Take a moment to immerse yourself deeply.
We all share that same water.
And as you breathe in the coming days,
Take moments to breathe deeply.
The air can take on a delicious,
Grateful quality when we recognize the sustenance it gives to all of us.
Thank you again for being here and for connecting.
Whether we see each other tomorrow or next week or next year or maybe never again,
We're always connected.
We're always together.
