Today we're going to do a river meditation.
So take your seat on your cushion,
A chair,
Or wherever you feel most comfortable.
Sit with your back tall and proud without arrogance or ego.
Find a comfortable way to hold your head and relax your jaw.
Let your eyes naturally close and inhale a gentle breath through your nose.
Remember that finding a comfortable way to be physically will give you an easier time being comfortable in the mind.
Let your hands rest in a way that feels right for you.
Let your shoulders fall away from your head and neck.
And now take a deeper breath through your nose and into your belly.
At that moment before you exhale,
Try to notice the small pause that exists there.
Now take a few more deeper breaths,
Watching for the tiny pauses,
And then let your natural breath resume.
Now imagine a peaceful river.
Maybe a river you have walked along,
Swam in,
Or canoed down,
Or maybe just a river you've simply seen in a photograph.
Maybe you see yourself sitting in the sand at the bank,
Or in the rich green grass under a willow tree overlooking the river.
Maybe back from the water's edge,
Maybe right near it.
But simply find your river.
Maybe it's a small hidden river deep in a forest,
Or a busy river with boats and people in the middle of a big city.
Just remember that this is your river.
And as you find your river,
Listen to it.
Listen as the water moves past,
And hear the sounds made by water and rock,
Wind and tree.
Maybe your river's voice is a slow,
Peaceful trickle.
Or maybe your river has rapids,
And is much,
Much louder.
But either way,
This is your river's voice.
And as you sit by your river,
Notice how the river is changing every single moment.
Just like time,
There's almost no way to say the river is exactly like this right now.
Because by the time you say that,
It's already changed.
Just like time,
As soon as we claim something is now,
It is already in the past.
This is the nature of now,
This is the nature of time,
And this is the nature of the river.
Now take some time to visualize your river,
To see it as yours,
And as you sitting there on its banks.
Hear the sounds,
Smell the air,
Feel the breeze.
And when you wander off away from the river,
Remember,
Be gentle,
Be kind.
Know that this is natural for the mind to wander.
And with love and kindness for yourself,
Most importantly,
Guide yourself back to the breath.
And once you're settled back in your breath,
Return to your river.
And like a boat that travels the river,
Needs an anchor,
So do we.
Your anchor can be our breath or our body,
As they are always with us.
Again,
To ground yourself barely,
Watch the breath for a few cycles without trying to control it.
Take some time to awareness of the breath with the lightest touch possible.
And again,
To ground yourself barely,
Watch the breath for a few cycles without trying to control it.
And once you're settled back in your breath,
Return to the breath.
And as we sit by the river,
Our breath as our anchor,
Thoughts will bubble to the surface.
And sometimes we will follow them downstream.
When we lose our anchor and we notice we are drifting,
Simply return to our breath with no judgment,
No negativity,
To our spot by the river.
Feel the warm sand between your toes.
Or maybe the soft grass underfoot,
Grounded to this warm earth that sustains us.
As we see a leaf floating down the river towards us,
Then float on past and continue downstream beyond our view,
We can do the same with our thoughts when they arise.
We can see them coming.
We can name them simply as thoughts and then let them move along without grasping.
Use the bare minimum awareness to name them and let them go.
Now take a moment and check your posture.
Make sure as you're sitting here at the edge of your river,
That you are sitting proud but with no ego,
Just proud to be.
And with your back in a straight,
Comfortable position,
The rest of this body in a way that sustains your upright posture with a minimum of discomfort.
If you need to readjust,
Try to do it mindfully,
Making deliberate,
Quiet movements.
And then go back to your anchor,
The breath,
And watch it like you're watching the river.
Okay?
As you breathe in a long breath,
Know you're taking a long breath.
As you breathe in a short breath,
Know you're taking a short breath.
Like the ebb and flow of the river's tide,
Your breath comes and goes.
And like the river's flow just continues onward,
So does the cycle of the breath.
As we watch the river,
As we watch this breath,
As we let the wandering thoughts that drift on go once and by when we notice them,
With no judgment,
No attachment,
We realize that not just in our practice can we let the wandering thoughts go.
And that this river that takes drifting thoughts away,
This river is always with us.
It's always flowing.
And it's always ready to float away what we grasp to,
But really need to just let float on by.
Like,
That branch that lands in the water and gets picked up by a river's current,
Then flows for a while and maybe gets caught up in a rocky outcropping.
Or maybe another stuck branch.
When we give permission for the branch to keep flowing,
It will move on past.
We can do the same with our grasping mind.
Just till we know,
But it doesn't just go to face the river.
We can let the sustaining waters of our river,
Coming from an ever giving source,
Renew,
Refresh and wash away the stagnant,
Grasping thoughts that weigh us down,
That make that branch sink to the bottom.
A branch at the bottom can cause other passing branches and leaves and such to get stuck,
Affecting the entire flow of the river.
And we see that stuck branch being freed,
Being washed away from its captive silt and move down the flowing river,
Out of sight,
Out of mind.
And within moments,
The silty cloudy water becomes clear again as the river frees the branch and keeps flowing.
We just have to let the branch,
The grasping branch,
We have to let it go.
Good night.
Now watch the thoughts you are grasping,
If you are grasping.
Slow down the river and out of sight.
Now again,
Be comfortable in your seat by the river.
Feel the earth on your hands,
The sand,
The grass.
Hear the surroundings of this place.
The safe place to let everything flow.
Now see your anchor and come back to your breath.
It's now time to let your river float away.
And remember that it is never too far.
It's just a quiet moment's thought away.
Your river is always there for you.
You just have to decide to come sit by it and visit.
And as you let the river go and everything you let wash down it,
It's moving current.
Place your hand on your heart and just breathe for a few moments.
And then when you are ready,
Gently open your eyes.
And I thank you for meditating with me today.
