Meeting An Enlightened Being

Hello,

My loves.

How are you doing,

Spiritually sassy warriors?

I hope you're doing so well.

Welcome to a new practice.

This practice is called Meeting an Enlightened Being.

We're going to work your way up to meeting an enlightened being.

I'm really excited about this practice.

I hope you are too.

So go ahead and get settled into a comfortable meditation position.

Perhaps you're sitting on a chair,

Or you are sitting on a meditation cushion on the floor,

Or maybe you are laying down.

Whatever feels most comfortable for you right now.

And just inviting the keywords intentionality and grace.

Making sure that you're sitting upright,

If you are on a cushion or in a chair,

Not uptight.

And once you're ready,

I invite you to gently close your eyes.

Or you can just softly gaze at a spot ahead of you,

Preferably something that's not moving,

So it won't distract you.

So let's begin.

Let's begin by scanning our internal world.

So exercising the loving awareness to look inside.

Looking at the,

How's the body doing right now?

Is the body energized?

Or is it tired?

Is there physical pain?

And then looking at the quality of your mind in this moment.

What's the mind orienting towards right now?

Can you actually tell what kind of thoughts are present?

And now let's do a short breathing practice to invite more relaxation and ease into the body and the mind.

So this breath,

If you've been practicing with me for a while,

You know,

The straw breath.

We're gonna breathe in through the mouth and then out through the nose.

Okay,

So part your lips as if you're about to take a sip from a straw.

And then we're gonna breathe in through the mouth and out through the nose.

So all together,

Let's do this.

Sipping the breath in through the mouth and then out through the nose.

In through the mouth.

Out through the nose.

In through the mouth.

Out through the nose.

In through the mouth.

One more sip here.

Hold.

Holding.

And then out through the nose.

In through the mouth.

Two sips here.

One more.

Hold.

And then allow the natural breath to take place.

And before we transition into a conceptual,

Into a visualization meditation practice,

We're going to start with the foundational practice,

A concentration technique.

So for this part of the practice,

I invite you to gather all the energy of the mind on the feeling of the breath in the body.

Where do you feel the breath most vividly right now?

Is it at the tip of your nose where you can feel the cooling air entering your nostrils?

Is it in your upper lip where you feel the cooling air brushing by?

Or is it a place in your chest or place in your belly where you're connecting with the movement of the belly rising and settling?

Wherever that place is for you,

Where your attention meets that place,

Where your attention meets the feeling of the breath in the body,

That's your home base,

My love.

So for the next few moments,

I invite you to stay in your home base.

And if at any moment your attention wanders into future tripping or past memories or to-do lists or external distractions,

Just kindly invite your attention back and place it back on the home base where you feel the breath most vividly,

Okay?

Notice if your attention has drifted and just invite it back.

Place it back on the feeling of the breath.

Bring it back again.

And now let go of the breath.

Let it go.

We have just established a baseline of concentration.

And now let's transition to the next phase of our practice.

We're going to activate our imagination for this.

So visualize yourself in your home and you receive the news that there's an enlightened being living in a mountaintop in a cave on top of a mountain in a remote part of the world.

Maybe this message came on an email or a close friend of yours sent you a text message or someone called to let you know.

The message came from someone that you trust,

A dear one.

And as you receive the message,

As you read the message,

As you hear the message,

You are immediately determined to go meet this being,

To go meet this fully enlightened being.

And you're determined to go now.

So you start packing.

You put on some music.

You're really excited.

You check the weather in that region of the world and you realize that you're going to need some comfy,

Cozy clothes.

Because it's a little chilly.

But you pack lightly.

And you close your bags.

You drink some water.

You get your passport.

And you get on the car.

And you're on the way to the airport.

You're so excited.

You get to the airport.

You check in.

And miraculously the flight leaves very soon.

So you're just going with the flow.

Big smile on your face,

Radiating joy.

You get on the flight.

It's a long journey.

In the flight,

You start to think about what is it that you want to ask this enlightened being.

And you write down your questions.

And as soon as you're done writing,

You fall asleep.

And you wake up to the announcement on the plane.

You have arrived.

The excitement is now mixed with fear,

With doubt,

With imposter syndrome.

But you carry on anyways.

You leave the airport.

You take a taxi to this small village,

This mountain village.

You're in the back of the taxi and you're looking around at these snow mountains,

These mountains covered in snow.

Really tall trees,

These unpaved roads as you're going up.

There's foreign music playing in the radio.

There's a really strong smell,

Really lovely but very strong smell in the car.

You're just looking around now with so much curiosity.

Everything's new for you.

The taxi stops at your hotel.

You get in.

You brush your teeth.

Drink some water.

Put yourself together.

You eat some fruit,

Some fresh fruit.

And you decide that you're going now because you arrived there in the morning.

You're going now to meet this enlightened being.

You grab one extra piece of fruit as an offering for when you meet this enlightened being.

You look at your notes.

You know exactly where to go.

And you start to hike up the mountain where this enlightened being is living at the very top.

And as you're hiking the mountain,

You feel the cooling air touching your cheeks,

Your fingertips.

You're looking around.

It's absolutely stunning.

And you continue to hike up the mountain.

And you're revisiting the question you want to ask this enlightened being.

And you arrive at the top.

At the top of the mountain,

There's a cave.

And inside the cave,

There's a small fire to the left and to the right.

This enlightened being sitting there,

Cross-legged,

Deep in meditation.

And you start to walk towards the entryway of the cave very slowly.

Very slowly.

And as you approach the entryway,

This enlightened being opens their eyes.

Big,

Bright smile on their face and waves you in as if they've been waiting for you.

And you sit in front of them.

And you offer the fruit that you brought.

And then you notice the quality of their presence and how it impacts you.

And then you look at them in the eyes.

And you ask them your question.

And you listen deeply for the answers.

And maybe you ask them another question.

You're listening deeply to their answer.

And then you say thank you.

And you bow in gratitude.

They bow back at you.

And you start to make your way out of the cave slowly.

Big smile on your face.

Great work,

My love.

Beautiful work.

Let's bring this practice into a close.

Bring your hands and pray in front of your heart for the universal gesture of gratitude.

Be grateful for your effort,

For your practice.

And may the insights that you have received,

May you actualize them at the heart level.

And may we offer these insights to all people with no exception.

And we offer the merits of our practice to all people with no exception.

Thank you so much.

I'm sending you love.