This guided meditation is an invitation to rest in unknowing,
In the silent secret embrace,
In the ocean of loving presence,
Who is both within us and holding us in being.
We so easily get caught up in our images,
Concepts and theories about God,
But the invitation of quiet prayer is to let go of any of our mind's version of who God is,
Which is always a veil that keeps us separate,
And rather to surrender in unknowing into the immediacy of the I am presence,
The secret embrace.
As we rest into the ocean of God's love,
Our old conditioned patterns and imprisoning ideas about ourselves and God and life are gently dissolved as we return home to where we have always been,
Held in and one with the loving immensity of God our beloved.
So won't you join me in this guided meditation practice?
To begin with,
Gently relax into a felt sense of being present here and now.
Allow your awareness to feel the sensations in your body.
Try not to picture your body in your mind,
But rather feel its aliveness from within.
Wherever you feel it most clearly,
Any tingling sensation,
If you notice any tension anywhere,
Just gently relax and release that.
But notice how alive your body is without you having to do anything right now.
So much life vibrating in every cell.
Now bring awareness to your breath.
The intimacy of breathing,
Of being breathed,
Baruach,
The breath of God.
Try not to get caught up in thinking about this,
But just stay present with the felt immediacy of this breath.
Now feel the gentleness and silence that your breath is arising in.
Feel into the vibrancy of your breath.
Feel into the vastness of this quiet I am presence.
Try to let go of any attempt to explain or understand.
Just allow yourself to surrender into this silence,
This presence.
Allow your breath to rise and fall so naturally,
So faithfully as you do this.
Offer yourself to being breathed Baruach,
The breath of God.
And again,
Return to a sense of felt immediacy with the rhythmic movement of that breath.
If you find your mind analyzing or questioning,
Be very gentle in noticing this.
Then let go of the thoughts and return to resting in the quiet oceanic presence.
By returning,
Using a sacred word or to attending to the rhythmic surrender of being breathed.
Continue like this in the silence,
And I will end this guided prayer time with a few paraphrased verses from Psalm 107.
I will end this guided prayer time with reading extracts from Nan Merrill's paraphrase of Psalm 107.
Enter into the great silence where you may hear the voice of the beloved,
Where you may hear the voice of the beloved,
Who satisfies the hungry soul and quenches the thirsty with streams of living water.
Yes,
Attune yourselves to the small,
Still voice within.
Yes,
Attune yourselves to the small,
Still voice within.
Stay true to your heart's center,
For through your inner being is the word of truth heard.
The resource to break all bonds is found there too.
Has no one ever told you that truth is written on the scrolls of your heart,
That the beloved dwells therein?
O people of the light,
Awaken to the knowledge that lives within you.
O people of the light,
Awaken to the knowledge that lives within you.
Awaken to the knowledge that lives within you.
Amen.
