Begin,
Please,
By invoking that which is beyond change,
The deathless living spirit,
Allowing the hard mind to settle,
To trust,
Receiving that which is arising without the need for analysis or improvement.
And to bring this trust then also into the body,
We'll first explore grounding,
Bringing your attention to the base of your torso.
And as you breathe out a more full out-breath and in-breath,
Letting the energy go down and out into the earth that supports and nourishes,
Letting the in-breath be easy and natural.
With each out-breath,
Surrendering down through the base of the torso.
When thoughts,
Images or emotions arise,
No need to judge or be concerned,
No need to repress,
And with the next out-breath then drop back into this process of feeling more and more grounded,
A feeling of stability,
Trust that you are supported,
That there is the energy and nourishment to do what needs to be done in the next moment in your life.
Noticing as clearly as you can and what it feels like when the energy goes up in your head and there is identification with the contents of the mind.
Realizing the possibility of thinking about something that happened yesterday and yet remaining grounded.
Imagine remembering somebody you know,
Somebody that you've had interaction with in the not too distant past.
Can you hold the image of this person and still remain grounded?
Can ever other thoughts or images intrude,
Just notice them,
Coming back to being present and grounded.
Below the mind,
A sense of support,
Connectedness,
Quiet mind feeling that connectedness.
And then not letting go of being grounded but moving on to the next developmental stage of being centered,
Bringing your attention up into your lower belly,
A few finger widths below your navel and a few finger widths inside the front of your body.
Once again as you breathe out,
Full out-breath,
Full exhalation,
Easy,
Natural in-breath,
Breathing out down into this belly center and letting go of the shoulders,
Letting go of any holding in the belly,
Being aware of the ego's desire to think,
To distract.
Finding a balance of right tension and right relaxation in your belly.
There's a certain strength in your lower belly.
If somebody poked a finger below your navel,
There would be a sense of right tension,
Of strength.
Letting your sense of self be dropping from identification with the mind down into the belly as if each out-breath were a surrender,
A dying of separateness,
Of the notion of a separate I.
Noticing any tension as it might arise in this process of surrender,
Possibly even notice patterns of holding onto the I in the way that you're breathing,
Being willing to receive,
Receive the boundless prana,
The boundless chi that is available in each breath,
In each moment,
Not taking but being open to receiving energy.
Totally empty of self,
Full of chi,
So full it can be empty,
So empty it can be full.
Letting go,
Dropping down,
Receiving.
Fifty seconds.
Letting this then be a foundation for coming into your heart,
Spacious heart,
As if your chest were filled with the sky.
Lower body grounded in center,
Staple like a mountain.
Getting out from the heart in all directions,
Infinitely up and down,
Forward and back,
Right and left.
Receiving love and compassion on the easy natural in-breath.
The heart making bearable,
Workable,
Anything that might arise from being centered as the eye wants to be met and paid attention to.
As the heart becomes more open,
It's as if we're having a very intimate relationship with each arising.
Letting this then be a foundation for coming into your heart,
Spacious heart,
As if you're having a very intimate relationship with each arising.
And this openness of the heart,
The content of experience,
Even as it remains,
Is not as important as the quality of presence of openness that pervades each moment.
There's still a clear awareness of what it is that's arising,
But colored with this spaciousness of heart,
Compassion at heart.
Simply arising compassion for all sentient beings.
I wish that they might realize the boundless nature of their heart-minds and must be freed from suffering.
