Welcome to day 26 of mindfulness with the moon.
Today we are in the waning crescent phase where again darkness is starting to find its way in the sky.
And we get to practice what we call in the Buddhist tradition,
How to be your own refuge.
And now that we're at this point at mindfulness with the moon,
I would like to encourage you to do the practices that bring the most ease,
The most aliveness and the most joy to your life.
This is the part of the moon cycle where we might be perceived as an elder,
Integrating and living the wisdom that is here through the teachings and the dharmas that only can come to life and be lived when we choose to bring them to life and to live them.
We want to find inner relief,
Right?
We just do,
And it's important to remind ourselves that life is a marathon.
Life is not a sprint.
So as you continue on this meditation journey on this path of life,
Find your stride,
Making transitions from doing,
Doing,
Doing,
Doing to being while you're doing,
Right?
It's not about doing nothing.
It's about being present while we're doing these things.
And maybe we can slow ourselves down a little bit so that we can be aware,
Fully alive in this moment so that we can become our own refuge because we must learn to take care of ourselves.
In life,
Most of us have and will need shelter or protection from danger or distress.
And where do we look for happiness?
Where do we look for protection?
In relationships,
In our jobs,
In chocolate,
In our home,
In our finances,
Right?
Where do we look for happiness?
Mindfulness helps us to be our own protectors because when we put our faith in other things,
We go up and down,
Flapping in the wind like flags,
Kind of mindless flapping,
Right?
You can imagine a flag in the wind and what that looks like and how we might relate to that experience when we're not in the present moment.
So mindfulness allows for wisdom to come through in challenging circumstances.
The Dharma comes through us because the Dharma can be found and expressed only truly from within,
Right?
These teachings that we've learned from mindfulness and the moon and the teachings that you've received in your life come through you and can be lived really only through you.
Buddhism takes a different perspective than many of the other faith traditions,
Than many other philosophies,
Where there's a concept that we talk about that says,
Can you be an island unto yourself?
We get to practice being our own protectors.
And I'm not saying that community is not important.
Community is key to our health and well-being.
However,
Learning to be our own refuge,
Learning to calm yourself,
Learning to honor yourself and trust yourself in each and every moment,
And each and every moment,
You're the only one who can respond for you.
So can you be your own refuge unto yourself?
And these teachings,
These Dharma talks are the foundation of how we teach ourselves to take care and nurture ourselves.
We are born into this world alone and we die alone.
We turn to seed alone.
And so we get to practice this idea of taking care of ourselves.
We get to practice being our own protectors.
So how do we do this when we've been told over and over that somebody else,
Something else will save us?
The Buddha says,
Take refuge in the Dharma as an island.
The self and the Dharma become the same.
So when we're living these teachings,
This is how the Dharma comes to life.
Otherwise they're just teachings.
Thich Nhat Hanh says,
We can water the seeds of our own joy.
And we get to water ourselves.
We get to be an island and a protector of ourselves.
And Thich Nhat Hanh also says that when we've been traumatized,
We can never overwater ourselves.
We can never water the seeds of our own joy enough.
We can keep watering and watering and loving and loving and loving ourselves.
And that's what we're teaching.
So as we drop into this meditation today,
I invite you to search inside yourself,
Asking yourself what helps,
What helps you to be grounded and connected to yourself?
What do you need to support you to be your own refuge?
And what other moments of release are supportive to allowing the Dharma to move through you because you are a conscious vessel?
Let's meditate.
Find yourself in a comfortable position,
Just taking a few deep breaths,
Anchoring yourself,
Feeling yourself as your own refuge right here and now.
You'll hear three bells to begin and three bells to close.
Noticing your breath,
Noticing how you're feeling,
What you're bringing,
What you're coming with today in this moment.
Just making room for what's arising.
As we meditate,
Maybe you'd like to search inside.
Search inside for what you need,
Knowing when it's our choice to let go.
Knowing when we are in proliferation in our minds,
Thinking,
Thinking,
Thinking,
And trusting that that moment when we come back to our breath,
This is liberation and freedom.
Noticing the sensations that are arising in your body,
Stepping towards what's arising.
Breathing slowly and steadily,
Reminding yourself that this is the only moment right here.
Can you be here for it?
Can you be your own refuge?
Loving yourself,
Holding yourself no matter what.
The moment of mindfulness happens when we see ourselves thinking and we come back to the breath.
This is liberation and freedom.
And the more we practice,
The more natural and easy this feeling of freedom and liberation will become.
And where we find that liberation is being right in the moment,
No matter what's happening,
No matter what's arising,
Being there.
And we're practicing by being here now.
Om.
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I'd like to share a poem by a woman named Donna Faulds called Walk Slowly.
It only takes a reminder to breathe,
A moment to be still.
And just like that,
Something in me settles,
Softens,
Makes space for imperfection.
The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper.
And I remember again that life isn't a relay race,
That we will all cross the finish line.
That waking up to life is what we were born for.
As many times as I forget,
Catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I'm going.
That many times I can make the choice to stop,
To breathe,
And be,
And walk slowly into the mystery.
Om.
Om.
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Breathing.
Being.
Right here.
With yourself.
Alone.
Taking a few slow,
Mindful breaths.
Gently allowing some movement to come into your body.
May you walk slowly into the mystery.
May you be your own refuge.
For when you take care of you,
You are taking care of all.
Because we are all intimately connected.
Thank you for sharing your practice.
And for being a vessel for these Dharma teachings to live through you.
See you tomorrow.
