Welcome to day 28 of mindfulness with the moon.
We are in the last two days of the waning crescent phase.
The moon is getting smaller and smaller,
Turning into a beautiful sliver,
And she will almost be out of sight.
We are a seed going back to the earth,
Letting go of who we think we are and returning to the oneness of all beings,
Of all things,
Of all.
Today we will be exploring in a Dharma talk,
Life is the practice.
This life that we have breathing right here,
Right now,
This is the practice of meditation.
Tama Chodron says,
This very moment is the perfect teacher,
And isn't it?
This moment,
We never know what's going to happen.
We can never imagine what's going to happen.
We can simply open ourselves to the limitless possibilities of what it means to be on this planet and live right here and learn right here.
The Buddhist nun,
Tama Chodron,
Also shares that we don't meditate to become good meditators.
That's not the point.
We meditate so that we're present for our lives.
We sit down with whatever is arising and we release and surrender into relaxing into life as it is.
Relaxing into life as it is.
We don't need to control.
We don't need to change.
We don't need to fix.
This is it.
We meditate so that we can be right here.
We're not caught up in our busy minds.
We're not fearing for the future or worrying about the past.
We're just here in this moment for our lives.
This one life that we have an opportunity to live as human beings.
I was thinking the other day,
You know,
What if you were a scorpion?
What if you were a bird?
What if you were a whale?
What if you were a tree?
What if you were a mosquito?
I certainly go existential with my thoughts most of the time,
But you know,
These comments and these wise teachers through thousands of years have been saying how fortunate we are to be human this go around.
To be able to live a human life and to think that so many of us waste it,
We waste it worrying,
We waste it fearing,
We waste it sitting in unhappiness and undesirable situations and undesirable thoughts that oftentimes we create for ourselves.
And fear is natural.
It's the body's response.
However,
It's only supportive when it needs to be employed right here,
Right now,
Because we are in a dangerous situation,
For example.
But when it's not,
Can we surrender and release into being with life just as it is?
Can we be there for every conversation?
Can we savor every single bite of food?
I remember I had an aha moment with my teacher,
Tiame,
Who I shared about a lot in the beginning of Mindfulness with the Moon,
But I was eating with her breakfast one time and every bite she was like,
Wow,
Yum,
Yum,
This tastes so good.
She was so present with her food and also very vocal.
I just couldn't believe it.
Like,
Oh my God,
She's loving this right now.
And then I ate with her again and again,
And it was always like that.
It was just what true presence with our food can look like.
And it doesn't have to be vocal.
It doesn't have to be loud.
But if we can be that present with every single thing that we're doing,
To remember that this very moment is the perfect teacher and there's nowhere else to be other than right here,
No matter what's happening.
And if we can stay with what's here,
We can start to uncover and learn and grow more and more into tenderness,
Training this heart to stay in tenderness.
Pema Chodron says,
It helps to remember that our practice is not about accomplishing anything,
Not about winning or losing,
But about ceasing to struggle and relaxing as it is.
That is what we are doing when we are sitting down to meditate.
That attitude spreads into the rest of our lives.
So let's practice together.
You'll hear three bells to begin and three bells to close.
Noticing the quality of your breath,
Noticing yourself right here right now,
Finding an anchor that works for you.
And using this meditation practice to practice for your life.
I invite you to trust your own wisdom and your own intuition as you meditate today.
Noticing what arises with kindness and gentleness,
Surrendering to this very moment as the perfect teacher.
Bringing yourself slowly,
Kindly into this very moment.
This very moment as the perfect teacher.
We have one more day of mindfulness with the moon.
What a beautiful journey this has been for me.
Seeing this wisdom from so many incredible teachers unfold through this course and through me.
I deeply feel like a channel of information that is collective.
It's so much bigger than I am.
Life is so much bigger than we are,
So much more infinitely complex.
And life is where we get to bring this practice into action.
Thank you for being here and for being with yourself and for breathing.
Thank you for creating the space to listen to yourself and to your wisdom with kindness and compassion.
See you tomorrow.
Bye.
