This is the first in the series of meditating everything.
I'm here in my favorite coffee shop in New Mexico,
The state in the deep southwest of the United States.
And I like to come to these places and practice meditating everything,
Holding myself in a place of awareness and serenity and calm and opening to the sense of connection that happens for me in these public places a lot.
I'm curious what it's like for you and maybe in the comments you could tell me.
But first for a few minutes let's enjoy the coffee shop,
My favorite coffee shop here in New Mexico.
There are people here of course,
Music in the background,
People working on their computers,
The barista who's making espresso and cappuccino,
And for me my favorite cup of chai.
It's a wonderful feeling to be part of community and it's been many months since we've been able to come out and enjoy ourselves with other people and meet and talk.
Finally things are beginning to open up again.
So this may date this meditation some,
But I think it's still relevant and will be relevant because in thinking about meditating everything,
Meditation becomes something more than just sitting and being quiet,
Something more than visualization which I love,
Something more than Zen practice which I also love.
Meditation becomes a way of being,
A way of connecting with what you consider to be your spiritual life,
Your spiritual connection.
And for me I think about that spiritual connection as my ability and our ability to connect with what physicists call the field,
The zero point field or simply the field.
And I think of the field in many ways like Yoda talks about in the Star Wars movies,
The sagas,
About the force.
And when I think of the field I think about it connecting all the molecules and electrons and protons and neutrons and the quarks and all these tiny,
Tiny particles that are moving about easily in the universe without any struggle,
Happily going about their existence.
And they make up us,
They make up this microphone and they make up my chai and we're all entangled together.
There is no disconnection.
It moves between us,
This field,
And holds us and binds us together.
You couldn't escape it if you wanted to.
And I know when I feel the richest connection with the field that part of what happens for me is that I stop worrying,
I stop fretting,
I stop feeling defensive or disconnected from my wife or my kids.
I can feel the connection in my daily life,
In my work with my clients,
In my writing,
In my meditations that I record,
In my dreaming,
And how I hold myself in the midst of all of that,
Even here in my favorite coffee shop.
There's no need for me to think about the field as a being or a supernatural entity or anything like that.
It seems so natural just to consider that the field connects us,
Flows through us,
Is part of who we are and very much a part of who we are.
That our thoughts become things in our worlds,
Our dreams become reality if we'll let them.
The stories that we tell about our lives shape and guide and structure who we are as a person.
And here in my favorite coffee shop,
Having my chai this afternoon,
I like to slow down and take a look around and listen and simply feel the buzz of all the people here,
What they're doing.
Not eavesdropping of course,
But just paying attention.
Sometimes friends come in and we talk and laugh and greet each other with love and warmth.
Sometimes the music is just right and we catch it and listen.
Sometimes people share their dreams,
Their visions for their lives and in that sharing,
We bind together again.
I can hold all of this in my heart,
In my body,
In my guts,
In my mind.
Let it flow as energy through me while I'm sitting here enjoying my chai,
Enjoying the people,
Enjoying this setting in my favorite coffee shop.
I can get calmer and calmer and experience the serenity that for so long eluded me.
But now,
After years of meditative practice,
It's easy to access that serenity.
And no matter what happens around the world,
Around our country,
Around me,
My family,
I know in my heart of hearts that I can come back to that stillness,
That serenity that I feel.
And above all else for you my friend,
That's what I wish for.
That you too can find your serenity,
Your peace of mind in all that that means to you.
Not what I would say is important but what you say is important to you for your life,
For who you are as a person.
And my wish is that you'll find your way to creating scenarios for yourself,
Practices,
Even secret practices like what I'm doing here in this coffee shop.
Nobody knows that I come in and meditate my chai latte or smile inwardly at the barista who's there every Saturday.
No one knows that I'm holding this special place in my heart,
In my connection with the field,
In the love that I have for all the people around me and for you my friend.
Next time you're in town,
I'll meet you here at my favorite coffee shop.
