Welcome.
You might begin today's meditation by finding a space within yourself that is still.
Let it take as long as it takes.
Look around to get the lay of your land.
Are you an island of serenity?
Or do you have more in common with William James Baby's first experience of the world as a blooming,
Buzzing confusion?
What you seek,
A place of stillness,
Doesn't have to be big.
Maybe your right hand is completely still right now.
You can start there.
That's all it takes.
Maybe there is a quiet corner of your mind.
There might be a spot of memory of a favorite time of stillness.
Maybe there is a place in your heart that the buzzing confusion of the world hasn't touched.
Or at least a place it isn't touching right now.
Poke around.
Look into your corners.
Meditation is a practice of awareness.
It is a practice of making yourself aware of what's going on with you.
Awareness is a ritual which by itself can bring a sensation of calmness.
A body scan,
An emotion scan,
Whatever works for you.
Work to cultivate your ritual of awareness.
Practice it whenever you can.
When you learn to find that place of stillness within you,
And there is always one there,
You give yourself a place to stand.
A podium from which you can let the rest of yourself speak.
Your ritual of awareness might also begin with your breath.
You might simply note that you are breathing.
Note that wondrous process of drawing in nourishment.
A communion with the atmosphere of earth.
A path joining you with all living things.
Or you might choose to change your breath in some way.
Perhaps elongating your inhales and exhales.
You might notice how your body relaxes more and more with each exhale.
You might choose to listen to a sound.
You might internalize that sound and let it lead you to a pure expression of energy within you.
You might look at an object intently,
Allowing it to fade in and out of focus.
Allow the sight of it to move inside.
Allow it to become energy expanding to fill you.
For a little while now,
Continue to practice your ritual of awareness.
Let yourself open like a flower in the morning sunshine.
Allow your attention to travel where it wants.
Take a voyage of discovery.
And when you find that place of stillness,
Give in to its desire to expand.
Nourish your stillness as you are nourished by your breath.
Stand on your soapbox of stillness,
Open to all things.
There is never a need in meditation to force yourself towards something.
If you find yourself pushing or straining,
You might gently move your intention to acceptance.
Give up trying to exert control.
Let the waves carry you for a while.
The guiding star will appear when you need it.
Meditation is never about willpower.
It is never about forcing your body into a particular shape.
It is never about trying to force your mind to be quiet.
It is about willing power.
It is about a willingness to be content,
The willingness to accept whatever comes,
The willingness to be patient and forgiving.
Willing power is the true power of life.
The willingness to bend without breaking.
And if we happen to break,
The willingness to be healed.
When you heal yourself in the present,
You also heal the past and future versions of yourself.
You create a ripple of healing power that travels throughout the whole universe.
We are problem-solving creatures.
But here,
There is no need to figure things out.
Life is a beautiful process when we live in the flow.
Our successes don't have to be forced.
Allow the story to emerge as it will.
Be willing and be patient.
Sometimes it will seem as if the perfect answer has been dropped into your lap.
Sometimes it will seem as if the universe is watching out for you.
But it is really you watching out for yourself.
It is your awareness,
Channeled through your willingness and patience,
That is taking care of you.
You are doing the work,
Not the universe.
We can always find the light in the play of matter and energy and emptiness.
Attention to matter draws attention to energy and guides us to a radiant,
Expansive space of emptiness within which we can create the life we want.
This is our school.
This is our practice.
The flow of awareness finding a place of stillness within which to observe the ongoing process of creation.
Our practice is to be open to ourselves,
To be changed as needed,
And to move forward renewed and refreshed.
We seek to realize that life here in this world is literally fluid.
We are always in a flow.
Your ritual of awareness is a flow that takes you from external to internal.
It is another great lesson from that teacher,
The river.
Great tenderness is the key to this intimate relationship with ourselves that we seek.
The skills we learn here are the very skills we need for any healthy relationship.
The willingness to give attention,
To seek understanding,
And to love without expectation.
There is great power in willingness.
You might seek to give in to your urge to merge,
To the longing to melt into love with the vibrant essence of life.
It is perhaps a human being's deepest longing.
We each have our own individual sensory and sensual inclinations.
We each bring a unique ritual of awareness to our practice.
These inclinations come from our very nature,
From the stuff out of which we are made.
We are each an individual expression of the same stardust.
We cooperate with this longing,
With this desire to melt into love.
You might find yourself in a state of grace,
Not necessarily in the religious sense,
But in the sense of having had something wonderful given to you without any expectation of recompense.
So much has been freely given to you.
Your heart,
Your mind,
And your wonderful body that numbers them both along its parts.
Accept the gifts given to you.
Accept your birthright.
We want so much,
But need so little.
Our happiness is an inside job.
Sutra 96 from the Radiant Sutras says,
Accept the gift.
Generous,
Inspiring,
Savor every detail.
The beauty we admire infusing body and heart transports us beyond time and space into the living presence of wonder.
Awareness can take many forms.
Awareness of the flow of our lives.
Awareness of a place of stillness within us.
A generative spot within which we can nurture and cultivate what we need.
We want so much,
But need so little to be happy.
Our happiness is an inside job.
Your ritual of awareness,
In whatever form it takes for you,
Is perhaps the most powerful tool available to you.
It can be memory,
It can be listening,
It can be any sensory input.
It can be as simple as rubbing two fingers together and feeling the heat you produce.
Allow yourself now to move away from your meditation.
Let the transition be as slow as you need as you turn your face back to our shared world.
For the moment,
School is out.
Welcome back.
