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Guided Meditation: Beginning Again and Sustaining

Welcome to our meditation session. The topic these days is samadhi^[1]. I think of samadhi as a gathering together, a unification, so that all of who we are is included in such a way that not only is everything included, but everything is in harmony or working together for the purpose of being settled here, being connected, and being focused here at this time, at this place. As we get more settled and focused and harmonized here, many of our daily concerns, activities, and even perceptions begin to recede sometimes. This present moment that we're involved in just seems like the most important thing, or seems really rich and valuable, or deeply satisfying in its own right. That deep satisfaction has a lot to do with how we gather ourselves, how we really hear, and how we attend to our present moment experience.

So, being a little bit careful too, how you use your attention in a calm way, maybe even a kind way, turn your attention to your posture. In a way that is kind, supportive, and relaxed, adjust your posture a little bit so that you're sitting a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more upright maybe, so a little bit more alert, and also with some sense of ease. Gently close your eyes and put your body at ease. Maybe as you exhale, soften and relax your body. Be easy with whatever is happening in your body, easing up, letting yourself be at ease to some degree in your body. Put yourself at ease in your heart. Be easy with what you're carrying in your heart, perhaps easing up a bit.

And then, put yourself at ease in your mind for these few minutes here. There is nothing you need to take care of or worry about. If you have important concerns for these minutes, maybe imagine you're putting them up on a shelf and you'll pick them up again—they'll be right there waiting for you. Or if you have a lot of loyalty towards your concerns, maybe imagine that you put them down in a pile next to you so they're close by. Who knows, maybe your concerns need a little bit of rest. Sitting next to you, they too can relax. Let yourself be at ease, with the mind easing up.

Then, calmly, kindly become aware of breathing. Become aware of how the body experiences breathing. As you exhale, relax parts of your body. Maybe as if these muscle groups are coming home here in this body, not fighting it or pulling away from it, relaxing the muscles of the face, relaxing the shoulders, relaxing and settling down your chest—your heart center—and softening in the belly.

One of the things we're learning in meditation is how to begin again over and over again. We're learning how to do it kindly, calmly, matter-of-factly, and appreciatively that we can start again. The mind wanders off, and we start again. We're learning to hang in there, to stay focused, to begin again, and to remain. It's like there's a little muscle inside of us, in the mind maybe, which is the remaining muscle. The muscle that lets us stay and remain. A little sense of staying connected, staying rooted, maybe occasionally even staying in love with something like the breathing, or with attention to breathing. This wonderful capacity that we keep utilizing—the capacity of awareness that lets us begin again, the capacity of awareness that lets us remain. So, remaining with the cycles of breathing in and breathing out.

To help you remain, you might very calmly and peacefully count your breathing. It could be just counting each exhale up to ten. If you come to ten, start over. If you lose count, happily start over, always happy at the opportunity to begin again, no matter how far you got. Some people get a little extra help by giving the count both to the inhale and the exhale, so one for the inhale and one for the exhale.

If you extend how long you pronounce the count, especially on the exhale, you might get the sense that you can relax and let go into the exhale, like you're sliding on the exhale. Every time you count, remember to check if you're thinking. Let that gentle thought, which is a count, be the substitute for all other thinking. Almost like it's the gentle cool wind that cools the fever of a hot day.

With the experience of meditating, is there anything which is pleasant—any pleasure or pleasantness? Maybe in the glow of becoming calmer, more settled. Maybe it's a pleasant sensation, part of the cycle of breathing in and breathing out. Or maybe there's a pleasantness, a satisfaction of just being here, alive and vital. Or perhaps you can turn up the corners of your mouth just a little bit, what's called a half smile. Maybe that releases a little sense of pleasure or even joy. The pleasures and joys that are here as you meditate, no matter how small and subtle, can be a little bit of a gathering force. They gather you here in the present moment, so more and more of you is gathered, interested, just involved in this process of meditation here and now with the breathing.

Breathe with whatever pleasure or satisfaction is here. Breathe through whatever joy or pleasantness that's here associated with meditation. Even if there's plenty of unpleasantness, see if the pleasantness can help keep you here and present, like a door to greater attention, greater presence here.

And then, as we come to the end of the sitting, open your heart outwards to the world. Open your calm, your subtleness, or your concern out across the lands to the world around you. Have some simple thoughts, your own thoughts of appreciation and goodwill for others, thoughts wishing others well. Do it with a little bit of concentration, a little bit of focus, wholeheartedness, as if caring for others is the heart's wish.

So, coming out of meditation, consider wishing that whatever ways you grow and develop and benefit from meditation, then it be shared with others. That how you live your life is for the benefit and welfare of the world. Maybe not in any dramatic ways. It could be as simple as picking up trash around your neighborhood or smiling and saying hello to people.

May it be that our meditation practice together, for those hundreds of us that are practicing right now, may we be a force of good in the world. May we on this day make the life of at least one other person nicer and better, or maybe more. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. And may all beings be free.