Just invite you to find a comfortable,
Relaxed posture.
You'll be inviting the shoulders to relax,
Letting your hands rest in your lap or on your knees or or on your thighs.
If you like to,
You can let your eyes close,
Let your attention come down into the body.
Just feel the body,
Feel your body in contact with the surface beneath you,
Your feet as they touch the floor or whatever they're in contact with,
Your hands touching your lap or your knees or your thighs.
Just feel the sensations from the inside,
From the inside out.
So we're not just thinking about the hands,
We're just feeling the sensations.
What is it?
What do you feel in your hands?
Maybe pressure,
Warmth,
Maybe there's some tingling or pulsing of energy.
Just notice what's here.
Similarly with any other bodily feelings,
Maybe pressure as the weight of your body presses down on your thighs and your buttocks,
Your feet touch the ground.
Just this simple,
Non-judging awareness.
And you might consciously take a few longer,
Deeper breaths,
Just to help you arrive and settle more fully.
Nice,
Full,
Deep in-breath.
And a long,
Slow out-breath,
Releasing,
Letting go on the out-breath.
Breathing in,
Calming the body.
Breathing out,
Calming the mind.
So just let these deeper breaths,
Breaths help you settle into being here.
Nowhere else for you to be right now.
Put aside as much as you can the thoughts about the future,
Thoughts about the past,
Thoughts about things going on elsewhere,
And let your attention rest in your inner experience.
What you're feeling,
What you're experiencing right now.
You might find it helpful to just let your attention rest on your breath and your breathing.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Just a simple awareness of your breathing.
Or if you prefer,
Just awareness of whatever is coming up moment to moment.
Just allowing whatever is here right now,
Whatever's present,
Whatever's coming into your awareness,
To come and to go in their own time.
So you might notice some feelings of pressure or tension at the body,
Pulsing or throbbing or warmth.
So bring your awareness to those sensations if they're,
You know,
Predominant in your experience.
Just let them come,
Let them be,
And let them go.
Whatever emotions or mind states might be present,
Just allow them to come and to go.
There might be a feeling of tiredness or restlessness in the mind.
Just notice how that feels.
How does that feel in the body?
Or do you notice in the mind when you're feeling tired,
There might be a kind of a complaining feeling of,
Oh,
I wish I wasn't so tired.
But rather than,
You know,
Complaining,
Just notice if you can,
Just notice the feelings that come with that.
Let them come.
Let them be.
Let them go.
So whatever is present,
Just making space for it.
If the mind goes off into thoughts,
Into plans or memories or daydreams,
Worries,
When you notice that,
Just gently incline the attention back,
Just bring it back to the breath,
To the body,
Or just to this open awareness of whatever is coming up.
And meeting whatever is present with kindness,
With acceptance,
Without judgment,
Not holding on to anything or pushing anything away.
Just this simple awareness,
You might could call it a natural awareness.
This kind attention to whatever is here,
Making space for it.
Coming back whenever the mind goes off into thoughts or plans or stories,
Narratives,
Just gently and kindly coming back.
Not a problem when the mind goes off,
Just something like everything else,
Something to observe.
Oh,
The mind has,
The mind has got off into plans for what I'm going to do later today.
Okay,
Noticing that coming back,
Not judging yourself or beating yourself up for what the mind does or where it goes.
And in practicing in this way,
We're training the mind to be more present here,
To be more aware,
Aware of our inner experience,
Aware of our experience of what's going on around us,
Rather than being lost in stories,
Lost in the mind,
Lost in plans.
We'll finish off with this prayer from Shantideva,
Who was an 8th century Buddhist monk and Indian philosopher and poet and scholar.
And this is really the prayer of the Bodhisattva,
Someone who is committed to their own awakening and to alleviating the suffering of the world.
May I become,
At all times,
Both now and forever,
A protector for those without protection,
A guide for those who have lost their way,
A ship for those with oceans to cross,
A sanctuary for those in danger,
A lamp for those in the dark,
And a servant to all those in need.
As long as living beings exist and suffering afflicts them,
May I too abide to dispel the misery of the world.
May I be a guard for those who need protection,
A guide for those on the path,
A boat,
A raft,
A bridge for those who wish to cross the flood.
May I be a lamp in the darkness,
A resting place for the weary,
A healing medicine for all who are sick,
A vase of plenty,
A tree of miracles,
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings,
May I bring sustenance and awakening,
Enduring like the earth and sky until all beings are freed from sorrow and all are awakened.
