Divine Presence: Breath Of Presence

Before we begin,

Let's find a comfortable place,

Whether seated or lying down,

Just restoring your presence within your own body and space.

At this moment,

You may like to close your eyes,

If you wish,

Whatever is comfortable for you and whatever comes naturally,

Whatever comes naturally.

And letting everything to be as it is,

Now if there are sounds and distractions around your environment,

Just allow them,

Allow them.

As long as you have a relatively quiet space,

Sounds are fine and distractions as well.

One of the core components of this meditation is surrendering to whatever is in the present moment.

In fact,

That is the most important component of this meditation,

Is to allow the suchness of this moment to be exactly as it is.

It's a surrendering insert,

It's a surrendered meditation which allows the inner peace,

That is your natural state,

To be restored,

The natural state beyond the judgment of the mind that is constantly resisting the present moment.

So allow yourself to sink deeper into the present moment by letting yourself relax and let go of the thoughts,

Emotions,

Sensations.

May like to take a deep breath in and naturally let go,

Being present with the breath and the natural flow of the breath as you now gently breathe in and breathe out,

Allowing the breath to be gentle.

Remain your presence with the breath and also gently bring your attention into the body.

Follow the breath into the nostrils,

The back of the throat,

With the lungs and belly noticing the gentle rising of the chest and belly as you sink deeper into the present moment,

Restoring,

Rejuvenating,

Returning home,

Returning to presence,

Presence with capital P.

It's not something we own,

It's something we become present to,

Return to.

So continue paying attention to the breath,

Feeling the sensation of the breath,

Noticing its gentleness,

Noticing the coolness and the warmth as you breathe in and breathe out,

Expanding the awareness into the chest and abdomen,

Expanding the awareness into your arms,

Back,

Being present to sensations in your hands,

Becoming present to the body,

Noticing where the body makes contact with the chair,

The seat,

The ground,

Whatever is supporting you,

And feeling your own presence in the space you're in,

This gentle presence that you are,

The completeness,

The wholeness that you are in this present moment,

Beyond the thoughts that are constantly judging yourself,

Others,

Situations,

Past,

Present and future.

For a moment we're letting go of the judgmental mind that is inherently in all of us,

The mind is never satisfied,

And that is okay,

For such is the nature of the mind,

So there's no need to resist or change or fight,

But only to accept the mind,

Just accept the mind,

And accept the present moment as it is,

Thoughts arising and passing,

Allow them to arise and pass away,

No clinging,

No pushing away,

No holding on to,

And no resistance,

So allow the suchness of this moment to be exactly as it is,

For it is perfect in this present moment exactly,

It needs to be exactly as it is,

And it is as it is,

So let go and be present with that,

And return to the body again and return to the breath,

And be present with the breath and body,

Return to the gentleness of nature,

And your body and your breath are parts of nature,

Part of the realm of form,

Yet by becoming present to the breath and the body,

You also become present to a realm far deeper than the breath and the body,

Recognize the depth of presence beyond the form of the breath and the body,

And recognize its nature as deep peace and love,

Pervasive,

Infinite,

Permeating every cell and every atom of your body,

Become still and present to that,

And recognize its infinite,

Pervasive,

Expansive nature,

Recognize the depth of peace and love that pervades in that space,

And recognize that is the natural state of life,

The natural state of the universe,

And the natural state of you,

So allow yourself to sink deeper into this realm of the infinite,

Become present to divine presence within and without,

Permeating all time and space,

Beyond your thinking mind,

Beyond your beliefs,

Beyond your judgments of yourself,

Others,

Of life,

Become present to a realm far deeper than anything that the mind can ever touch,

But your own presence is enough,

Your own presence is all that is required to touch the infinite presence within and in all of life,

What else is there but this,

That is always there,

And the body arises and passes,

There is birth and death,

There is a rising and passing away of all forms and yet,

The infinite remains,

It's the cradle of life that all arise and pass away,

The universe begins and ends,

And the cycle may repeat again and again,

And yet,

The living presence of the infinite,

Always is,

Was,

And will forever be,

And so become present to that,

And feel that love that comes from the infinite,

Unconditional and unconditioned,

Feel that peace that arises from your presence with God,

Feel it,

Let every cell and every atom of your body become present to that,

And at this moment you recognize the ephemeral world sits in an infinite presence that cannot be conceived by the mind,

It can be felt by your own presence,

You may attempt to intellectualize it,

But the intellect simply cannot enter that realm,

But your presence can,

And your presence gives you access to the nature of that realm,

The nature of that realm,

The peace,

Love,

Imagine how it would be to reconnect with this at every moment in your life,

How would that change your state of being,

Your well-being,

Your quality of life,

The quality of your relationships with others,

Those close to you,

And those far,

How would it change your relationship with nature,

How would that change your relationship with your consumption,

How would you make choices in life,

Recognize this is far beyond just being present,

Or the potential of transformation here is real,

And returning to presence again and again,

Ensures that your own presence dominates over the judgmental thinking mind,

And the mind remains a tool to solve problems,

But it does not run your life,

And run the world anymore,

And so peace and love can be restored in your life,

And in your relationships,

And ultimately our world,

So remain with the breath and the body,

Return and remain in presence for as many times as you can throughout your day and night,

At every moment return to the breath and body,

Return to God at every moment,

For this simple returning to the breath and body gives you access to divine presence within,

And in all of life,

And all problems become trivial,

Daily problems that the mind thinks are so important,

Become gentler and more trivial,

You will attempt to solve them,

But with a sense of gentleness,

Not with anxiety and anger and frustration,

But with a sense of peace and love,

And you realize all the problems can be solved much more simply when you operate from this space,

The space of presence,

The space of connection with God within all of life,

All creation becomes part of you suddenly,

When in reality you recognize that everything is part of you,

All people,

All nature,

All of life,

The universe is actually an extension of you,

But it no longer is a belief,

But is a reality,

A realization that comes from the depth of your own being,

Not because someone told you,

But because you recognize it within yourself,

That all of life is just you manifested in a different form,

And how can you ever be cruel to any aspect of yourself,

When you recognize that all creation is just you in a different form,

Gentleness and kindness and compassion flows easily,

Effortlessly,

No effort required,

Your natural state of peace and love dominates,

Even when your anger and frustration arises,

You bring love and compassion to that,

And transmute it returning to peace,

You can bounce back from adversity with ease,

Because your natural state dominates,

Your natural state of love,

Your natural state of peace,

So continue to be present,

And return to presence at every moment,

This practice is a powerful practice that you can apply at every moment,

No matter where you are,

What you're doing,

No matter who you are,

No matter about the past,

Or present future,

Regardless of circumstances,

Regardless of all the judgment and labels,

Regardless of all the pride and prejudice,

When you return to peace and love within you,

Everything else becomes simple and gentle,

This is the path to the universal peace,

That all saints and sages and sacred traditions have been pointing to,

It all starts with your own breath and body and presence,

As simple as that,

So please continue this practice of presence with your breath and body into the rest of your day and night,

Beyond our formal meditation together today,

This evening,

And begin to feel a sense of ease in life,

As you practice this on a continuous consistent basis,

So whether you're walking,

Waiting,

Sitting,

Standing,

Working,

Speaking with someone,

From small moments,

Brief moments,

Return to your breath and body,

The breath and body are direct access points to divine presence,

The mind cannot touch that world,

Thinking can never get there,

But your presence with your breath,

Body,

With your heart,

Which we will also do a meditation on next time,

These give you access points,

So as we come to the end of this meditation together,

Know that you have access to this anytime and anywhere,

It's a simple yet powerful practice that will reconnect you with the infinite source of all of life,

That is,

The source of all creation,

The source of real peace and real love,

It can heal you and it can heal your relationships,

With others,

With life,

And you can bring anything,

Any experience into this realm of love,

Loving presence,

Anything,

Thank you all for joining me and each other in this space,

This time from around the world,

And reconnecting to what matters most,

Reconnecting with what brings healing and peace and love,

And what can heal us and others,

What can heal life,

And over time,

Transformation will take place without force,

Without effort,

Just natural evolution of life,

And all that we are experiencing is part of that evolution,

Painful and periods of suffering are also part of that evolution,

So you bring loving presence to that,

Please continue your practice of presence into the rest of your day and night,

Rest of your week,

Returning to the breath and body as many times as possible,

The mind will resist that naturally,

It will say I don't have time,

There are better things to do,

This is boring,

Be kind to that judgmental mind and do it anyway,

And then the mind will get a glimpse of the realm as well,

And become more quiet,

So that is the way we transcend the thinking mind that is constantly resisting the practice of presence and will continuously do so,

But there will be times where the mind will suddenly recognize the value,

And get an intellectual understanding as well of this practice,

And that may have already happened when we do our formal meditations anyway.