If you could take a moment as you're getting settled in,
As you're adjusting your spine,
So that your sitz bones are connected to the earth,
Your shoulders are over your hips,
And your ears over your shoulders,
And your chin slightly tucked,
If you could take a moment,
Whether this is your very first time meditating,
Or whether you've been meditating for years and years,
If you could just take a moment and receive this teaching as a gift,
And to know that this gift that I'm giving to you now was given to me by a teacher,
Was given to him by a teacher,
Was given to her by a teacher,
And on and on and on and on,
Back and back and back and back,
Generation after generation after generation,
And now you.
There is nothing special about me.
I am just an instrument.
I am just a person.
And I'm handing this gift to you.
And it's so,
So simple.
And yet,
It has all of the mystery and complexity you need to keep your mind busy and to calm your mind for the rest of your life.
You can see this gift as a box within a box within a box,
Or you can see it as a multifaceted jewel,
Or you can see it as something invisible,
Maybe an energy field that rests on your shoulders like a blanket.
It doesn't matter.
Just know that the gift is ever unfolding.
What might work for you one day might not the next day.
And so you just receive another part of the gift,
Another perspective,
Knowing that some guide,
Some ancient guide,
Is always there for you,
Is always delivering another way of being still in your body and your mind.
If you see it this way,
You will be able to sit every day for the rest of your life.
If you say,
I am going to do this for one minute,
Two minutes,
Five,
Ten,
Doesn't matter,
But I will find a spot to sit and just receive.
And it's like picking up the phone to tap into the gift you just breathed.
It's so simple.
It always will start with your breath.
It's just noticing the inhale and noticing the exhale.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And on and on.
And this might become really boring.
And so then you might repeat an ancient sound to yourself,
Maybe Aum.
And this might sustain you for a minute or two.
This might be enough of a practice for a day or two or a month or two or years and years.
Or maybe not.
Maybe you need something else to think about.
The mind is very fickle and busy,
Needy like a child,
And yet craves to be soothed also like a child.
And so,
Like you might read a story to a child,
About some great individual,
Your mind may focus then on such a person,
The attributes of a person who has a lovely spirit,
Someone who is selfless and kind and compassionate.
And you can focus on that person for a minute or five or ten.
And that might sustain your practice for a day,
For a week,
For a month,
For years and years if you find the right person.
And maybe the mind is still hungry.
Well,
The ancients taught us that the mind could also focus on an object.
The body is an object.
So you could focus on all the little vibrations in your body,
Starting from the base,
The feeling of your root on whatever you're sitting on,
The knowledge that whatever you're sitting on is connected to the earth eventually.
And you could move up the body and notice the subtle vibrations in your pelvis and your belly and your heart and your throat and between your eyebrows and the top of your head.
And you could start that journey again and again and again.
And you could go up and down the body and you could pause and notice each one of those parts for a few minutes or a few seconds,
One by one by one.
And that could sustain your practice for a minute or five minutes or days or weeks or months or years.
So there's breath and there's mantra and there's a special radiant being.
And there are objects galore to infinity you can choose to focus on.
And so you can see that this gift just has so many different ways to offer.
And your practice may change and evolve over time.
And you may use a combination of these different methods.
It's all good.
The ancients recognized that well,
We are all the same in so many ways and connected.
We are each different and unique,
Individual sparks of expression,
Of some divinity.
And we each might need a little something different.
You might go to the same restaurant every day,
The same little cafe,
And you might order the same thing most of the time.
But every once in a while,
You order something different.
And that will be your practice from this day forward.
You'll try this way and that way and this way and this way and this way and then that way and that way.
Trust,
Trust,
Trust.
Meditation teaches meditation.
Breathe and sit and breathe and notice and sit and breathe.
And notice.
And that's all there is to it.
Sit as long as you like.
I'll chime the bell in three minutes.
