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Guided Meditation: Holding All Things in our Heart

Greetings. It's a wonderful thing to come together in community. Even in the many varied places that we are today, to come together for a common purpose and for common exploration is a wonderful thing, and I thank you for being here.

The theme for this meditation could be called samādhi^[1], often translated as concentration. One of the ways I translate samādhi is unification. The etymology of it could mean gathering together, a coming together of things. There's a long tradition that meditation is a time to unify all the disparate parts of ourselves.

We begin most broadly in unifying body and mind. Our body is always in the present moment. Our mind is always in the present moment as well, but it's not where our focus is. The mind's preoccupation can be with the past, with the future, with fantasy, with things that are happening in other places right now. The mind often is not really here and now in the same place as the body. In meditation, we're bringing them together. It's really the task of bringing the mind to the body and harmonizing these two.

Rather than being oppositional to anything that happens, or maybe even trying to get rid of something, or feeling distraught at what we're experiencing here, the process of unification can be represented by the expression, "This too." We can tell ourselves, "This too will be included. This too will be included in the awareness."

What is the field for unification? It is the awareness. It doesn't mean that we think everything is good and wonderful. We can have thoughts which are kind of deleterious, but there's an art to not opposing them in meditation, but including them in such a way that this too is included, without believing them, picking them up, or pushing them away. If there's pain, there's a heart including this. This too has to be included, as opposed to tensing against it and struggling against it.

Now, this process of unification, of course, needs to be done wisely. We're not expected to sit and meditate with things which are harmful to ourselves, but that's the direction: bringing together, harmonizing, unifying, gathering together. On this sitting that we're doing, you might use the phrase, "This too," as opposed to, "Not this, oh no." "This too, I can hold in awareness. This too is recognized and known."

Sometimes it just takes a few moments to recognize and know something, and then it doesn't necessarily have to go away. It might be fine to let it recede to the periphery. It can be a part of the whole on the edges as we go to the center. Perhaps your center can be the breathing. The breathing is at the center of all things, holds all things, and breathes through all things. It supports the mind to be in the present moment, and supports the mind to not wander off too easily because it's rooted and anchored in the breathing and in the body.

So, take a posture. One of the expressions around posture is to compose yourself around a posture that is holistic. Compose yourself in your meditation posture. Maybe spend some time moving around, wiggling a little bit, swaying a little bit, finding a balance upon which to be composed in the body. Because the eyes, if they're open, easily pull us into thinking and looking at things that pull us away, there is a long tradition of closing the eyes when we meditate. This is partly so the inner eyes can be focused here and now in this body.

To begin this process of unifying the mind and body, give it direction with instructions from your mind. Let your body breathe deeply, taking some deep inhales and long exhales. This directedness, this instruction from the mind to the body to do something consciously this way, is the beginning of the process of bringing together the mind and the body. It's a reminder to the mind, "There is a body here; let's stay here and feel it, to know it."

As you let go, as you exhale, relax into your body. Part of the unification process is to unify the whole body, so the whole body wakes up. That's a process you don't have to do right away, but we're letting awareness tune into the vitality of the living body.

Let your breathing return to normal. For the next few exhales, continue to bring the mind into the domain of the body. With every exhale, see if you can let go of your thoughts, and as you let go of them, settle more into your body. Let go into your body.

Then be simple, simple and relaxed, aware of the body breathing, letting the body breathe itself. The mind gives instructions to itself. The instruction to the mind is: rest gently, tenderly, with the breathing, with the body breathing.

Whatever happens as we're sitting here that takes you away from the breathing, no matter what it is, you might say to yourself, "This too. This too is included." A good way to make this a process of unification is, whatever takes you away from the breathing, as you recognize it, see if you can feel how it feels in your body. How does the body experience this thing? If it's sound, how is that heard in the ears? If it's thinking that's strong enough, how does that feel in your body, in your muscles, and in the energetic agitation of your mind? If it's an emotion, where does it live in your body?

Referring everything to the body is a part of the unification process. The more you can be in your body to include all things, the easier it is for awareness to also include all things within it peacefully. With no opposition, just being aware. With no picking anything up, just being aware. Aware in a unified field of body and mind.

To say, "This too," is to include your experience in a way that is opening. At the same time, it is quieting. Quieting the thinking mind as the awareness becomes more inclusive, more open. The awareness is more sensitive, saying, "This too," and then being very quiet, so you better feel and experience what you've opened up to. Appreciating this quiet, attentive, inclusive way of being.

What is it that you can include? What is it that you can say "This too" to, that you're ignoring, that would help you feel more unified, more complete, more inclusive? Inclusive in a way that allows you to settle. "This too has space here."

One way of talking about unification, "This too is included," is that the practice is making room to hold everything. To make room for everything in our hearts. The heart, this heart that can hold, attend to, and care for, without necessarily acting, believing, or condoning everything, but it can hold everything in its embrace.

As we come to the end of this sitting, may this movement towards unification, towards inclusion, be an aspiration to hold everyone in our hearts. To unify the whole world in the care, kindness, and friendliness of our hearts. Our hearts do have room for everyone, and it's easier to do so if you've made room for everything about yourself. So that anger, frustration, greed, and disappointment don't close the heart down, but rather, when they occur, we make room for them too.

The greater the room, the more our freedom and peace will be, and the greater the gift we have to the world. It's a wonderful thing for people to know that we include them in our good wishes and our hearts, that we don't banish anyone. At least in our hearts, we're willing to be present, open, and friendly to anyone. Our minds might have some wisdom about how to do that effectively and safely. But may it be, as we end this meditation, that we aspire to have room for everyone in our hearts. In doing so, to wish for the welfare and happiness of all beings. That can only be realized when we come together in a kind of unity, a unity of goodwill.

May it be that our goodwill and inclusive hearts promote the welfare and happiness of all beings. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be free.