Hi,
It's Julie Potichur for the Balanced Mind Meditation Center.
So let's find a comfortable seat.
We're going to take three nourishing breaths in through our nose and out through our mouth.
Or if you don't like that,
Go in and out through your mouth or in and out through your nose.
I just happen to do it that way.
To have it.
Make your exhale longer.
Release this third one with the sigh.
Then either close your eyes or have a gentle downward gaze.
Rest your attention on your breath.
Relaxing your eyes.
Relaxing your jaws.
Imagining a smile to the outside corners of your lips.
Dropping that down into your throat.
Relaxing the sides of your neck.
Cutting your shoulder blades,
Drift down your back.
Dropping down into your heart,
Your chest.
Realizing what you feel there.
Releasing your abs.
Relaxing your hips.
Realizing the support of whatever you're sitting on.
Allowing relaxation to drift down your legs to your feet,
Toes.
Softening your hands.
You may want to place a hand or hands where you find it soothing.
Just as a reminder that you're giving yourself compassion right now.
Giving compassion for yourself,
For your practice,
And for each other.
Resting your awareness on your breath where you find it most easily.
And then taking in the words of John Lewis,
Who we just lost this past week.
I'll read the quote once through.
Let it wash over you and then we'll go back sentence by sentence and meditate on these really impactful and inspirational words.
So here's the quote once through.
You don't really need to pay attention because we'll meditate on each piece.
So just let this wash over you.
He wrote,
You are a light.
You are the light.
Never let anyone,
Any person or any force dampen,
Dim or diminish your light.
Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant.
Lean toward the whispers of your own heart.
Discover the universal truth and follow its dictates.
Release the need to hate,
Harbor division and the enticement of revenge.
Release all bitterness.
Hold only love,
Only peace in your heart,
Knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.
Choose confrontation wisely,
But when it's your time,
Don't be afraid to stand up,
Speak up and speak out against injustice.
And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love,
If you shine like a beacon for all to see,
Then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation,
A world community and a beloved community that is finally at peace with itself.
John Lewis.
You are a light.
You are the light.
You are a light.
You are the light.
Never let anyone,
Any person or any force dampen,
Dim or diminish your light.
Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant.
Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant.
In thinking about this one sentence,
You might want to consider who has already been on this journey that you can look to and learn from,
Who may be beckoning you on,
And who's newer on the path that you can be a mentor for.
Who can you reach your hand down to pull up with you as your uphill hand is reaching up and grasping the mentor who's farther along the path?
Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant.
And feel gratitude for those who came before you.
Lean toward the whispers of your own heart.
Discover the universal truth and follow its dictates.
Lean toward the whispers of your own heart.
Discover the universal truth and follow its dictates.
So we can contemplate our own core values here.
Our core values and universal core values.
Contemplate how we might be in alignment,
Living our life in alignment with these core values,
And taking the time to notice if we're off course so that we can make a course correction.
Release the need to hate,
To harbor division,
And the enticement of revenge.
Release all bitterness.
This is a hard one.
Release.
Because as we know,
When we're feeling these emotions like hate and revenge,
We can't be responding from our highest self.
Oftentimes our prefrontal cortex is hijacked by our amygdala reacting.
This practice that we've been doing all these many months is helping us develop the pause that's so necessary to open up a space between the match and the fuse.
Victor Frankl.
Hold only love,
Only peace in your heart,
Knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.
So taking that apart,
Hold only love,
Only peace in your heart.
That is the loving kindness meditation that we have been doing for five months and some of us have been doing for decades.
Hold only love,
Only peace in your heart.
Because loving kindness meditation has been shown to make people more altruistic.
It's hard to keep your heart open and loving.
This sentence knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won,
I think comes from John Lewis's deep faith.
He was a Christian.
It's harder for me being as literal as I am to really wrap my mind around that.
I think it's aspirational.
Choose confrontation wisely.
But when it is your time,
Don't be afraid to stand up,
Speak up and speak out against injustice.
And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love,
If you shine like a beacon for all to see,
Then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation,
A world community and a beloved community that is finally at peace with itself.
Taking a moment to really feel the light that is in you shining like a beacon for all to see.
Taking a moment to recognize the light that is in each of us.
Having your heart to open and really connect with each other,
Meditating together.
And having the real wish that we could live someday in a beloved community that is at peace with itself.
Now taking a moment to drop down your attention into your heart center.
See what's there.
See if you feel any emotions or feeling tones.
Now wiggling your fingers and wiggling your toes.
When you hear the sound of the chimes coming back together into this beloved community that we have created here.
Thank you for listening.
This is Julie Potichur from the Balanced Mind Meditation Center.
