This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Guided Meditation: Mindful Generously

Greetings, and welcome to the meditation.

It's often useful to think of meditation as something that is very different from everyday life, just so that we are willing or ready to put down some of the ideas, thoughts, and stories from everyday life, and be fresh, be new. There's a famous expression: "beginner's mind."

One of the ways of looking at meditation is that it's an act of generosity. We're being generous to ourselves when we put down our old stories, ideas, resentments, and plans, and just are really here to discover ourselves or be ourselves in a new way, a full way.

And so, what we do here is we are offering our generosity to ourselves through our attention. That attention is presented as an act of generosity. One form of generosity that's a little bit, maybe, radical, is the idea that during this half an hour or so of meditation, I'll keep time, and you don't have to be concerned with time. In fact, you can generously give yourself abundant time, all the time in the world to sit here. To have this attitude that you sit here just to be in vast time, as if there's all the time in the world.

No hurry, nothing. None of that momentum of daily life has to propel us forward and into the next desire and wants, and into the next thought. Generously give yourself time to settle and just be here in this timeless present. The way in which "now" here can feel like infinite time, or timeless time. This generosity of being here, with this generosity of meeting this here.

So, to take a meditation posture, the act of generosity can begin with being generous towards your body. Not treating your body as just a hunk of flesh and bones, but something that's intimate and something we care for. Adjust the posture in a way that is supportive for the body and nice for the body for this time.

And then, to gently close your eyes and begin with a sense of care and generosity towards your body, without any demand or judgments about your body. Begin the process of relaxing the body, perhaps on the exhales to soften, and relax on the inhale. Perhaps as you fill your lungs with air, you can also bring your attention to the parts of the body that might be tense or tight, and then on the exhale to relax. Give generously an opportunity for the body to unwind, to let go, to release.

Softening in the shoulders, softening in the chest, and perhaps maybe also relaxing in the muscles along the back, the sides of the ribcage, the sides of the spine, and softening the belly. And perhaps on the next exhale, release the whole body into the pull of gravity to wherever you're sitting or laying. Feeling the chair, your cushion, the floor. Releasing yourself so you can be supported by whatever supports you from the pull of gravity.

And in a sense, you might imagine that you can relax your mind and release it also from the pull of tension or contraction, even the pull of gravity. The mind can become loose, expansive, light, maybe each time you exhale.

And then settling in on your body breathing. See if the attention you bring to your breathing can have a quality of generosity, that you're offering your attention to the body breathing. Generosity has no demand or expectation. Generous attention is a wonderful gift. To train ourselves to bring this gift to our life is one of the great pleasures. Bring the gift of attention to your body, your body breathing.

If anything takes you away from your breathing, take a few moments when you notice it. Don't be troubled by it. See if you can be there for a few moments with it with an act of generous attention, as if you have all the time in the world to recognize it, to know it. And then, after a few moments, again with your breathing.

When we're caught up in distractions, lost in thought in a kind of way, we're being miserly with our attention—pulling it in so tight and close that we lose it. Open the awareness up so you can be generous with your attention here and now. Lots of time, nothing much you have to do except be generous with your attention, your present-moment attention, perhaps centered on breathing.

Relaxing into the timeless present. Relax and open wide in the generous, wide field of present-moment awareness.

There is a form of generosity that emerges when we are content. Is there a possibility of sitting here for the last minute or so with contentment for "now," in the fullness of the present moment, without reference to what's coming or what has been? Just here, breathing content.

And then, as we come to the end of the sitting, consider how whatever degree of subtleness, calm, or mindfulness that you've developed, the contentment that's here—how today you can extend your generosity into the world. Is there some quality of being that comes with meditation that inspires generosity, that predisposes you to generosity, that you can take into the world today for the next 24 hours with a generous heart, generous mind?

At the minimum, to be generous with your attention, with your ability to listen and be present. Many people thrive when they're listened to, and heard, and seen clearly, when someone takes time to be with them. You might practice infinite time or timeless time when you're talking with someone, as if it's okay to be there forever, and they can feel that you're really there—not impatient, not going on to the next thing.

It's quite profound to discover how to be generous with our respect and care for others.

May the benefit of our meditation today radiate out through us and our generosity into the world around us. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. And may all beings be free.