Morning.
Good afternoon,
Good evening.
So,
It's Wednesday,
So I'm going to start off with an image.
You might have heard me talk about this before,
But I think it's quite helpful.
Imagine a room with two doors.
Door A and door B.
There's a queue or a line of people coming in door A.
And they can only go out door B,
They can't go back out door A.
And door A is always open.
Door B is 95% of the time it's closed.
What's going to happen?
It's obvious.
It's going to become full.
The walls will even come under stress,
Get claustrophobic.
Basically,
There's a bottleneck.
Now door A represents,
And the people coming in,
Door A represents life happening,
It never stops.
And we have responses to life happening,
Emotional responses,
Feelings and emotions.
Door B is where they leave.
So they come in,
Perfume our world for a while,
And then leave.
But they can't.
Because door B is normally closed.
We normally close down,
Normally get overly involved in these feelings and emotions,
Going to stories,
Resist them,
We don't want them,
We try to push them away,
We banish them.
And they can't go anywhere.
They stay here in the body,
In our being.
So what do we do with that image?
What do we do?
There's nothing to do about door A.
It's always open,
But the people can't go back out door A.
We have to open door B,
To let all the emotions arise or the feelings arise,
Whatever.
And then to naturally pass away,
Just like clouds in the sky,
Like thought if left alone,
Everything arises and falls,
Everything appears and disappears.
That's nature.
It's one of the realities that the Buddha discovered.
Everything that appears,
Disappears.
Including human beings,
Night and day,
The weather.
So how do we open door B?
It's simple.
We just don't normally do it.
We come out of the mind,
Out of the stories,
Out of the resistance.
Egoic mind is resistance.
And we just feel what's here.
Right now,
Just feel what's here.
I'm going to do a little guidance.
Don't try to change what's here.
No change,
Don't modify,
Don't alter.
Just feel what's here.
So let's do that.
Eyes open or closed,
Your choice.
Take a few moments to relax into the body.
And what wants our attention?
Is there a sadness?
Maybe left over from sleep or frustration from work?
Or just a life issue at the moment?
Just feel it in the body.
Or is it a little more physical?
Is there a heaviness?
Is there a holding or tightness around the belly or the chest?
Wherever.
Take your attention there.
What does it feel like?
No story,
Just the present moment texture of it.
Not interested in the story,
In the history.
This present moment has no history.
You can ignore any of my guidance of course,
It doesn't work for you.
What's the most obvious quality?
Is it rough,
Smooth?
Heavy?
Does it have a color?
Don't just think about this,
It's not a thinking exercise.
It's a feeling one.
Thinking won't help you.
An answer may appear as a thought,
It's okay.
How do you feel towards it?
Just be honest.
Is it a physical sensation?
What emotion is inside it?
How does it feel?
Does it feel sad?
Angry?
Scared?
Let it reveal itself to you.
And if it feels ready,
If the time is right,
Just expand the awareness to include the whole body.
And literally just sit in silence and stillness.
Bathe yourself in this presence,
This beingness,
Silence.
All the same.
Where are you now?
Make sure you've not gone tense.
No straining.
Relax.
Okay.
Have a little stretch,
A little movement.
Your day or your evening,
Whenever.
Okay guys,
Thank you.
See you tomorrow.
Bye.
