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Introduction

Hello everyone, and welcome to Happy Hour. If you can hear me okay, give me a thumbs up. Fantastic, great.

I'll start by saying hello and welcome to Happy Hour. It's lovely to see you and to be with you. My name is Nikki, and I'm in Mountain View, California. Who would like to say hi and help warm up the space?

We have visitors from Michigan—hi Desiree and hi Neil. This is Barbara in Alameda. Hi Barbara. Salam, Ali from L.A. Hello Ali, and hi Bill in Dallas. Hi, it's Kim from Tofino, British Columbia. Good to be with you, Kim, showing up as our Canadian contingent.

Hello Corey from Prague. Wow, what time is it right now?

Corey: It is 3:00 a.m., and I happened to wake up and get a notification that this was occurring. [Laughter]

Nikki: Oh, that's sweet. Well, it'll be calming enough so that you can hopefully go back to sleep through the meditation. Lovely that you're joining us.

Hi, this is Vicky from Oakland. Good to be with you. And hello here from Wendy in San Diego. On YouTube, we have friends joining us. Tina says, "Hi from Thailand, Bangkok time 9:00 a.m." Good morning to you.

It feels like the Sangha^[1] has assembled, so let's begin. Thank you, Neil, for posting information about the Happy Hour Google Groups in the chat. If you are new to Happy Hour, we have a low-traffic Google Group for you to join. And hi Stuart from Caracas! Yes, we are absolutely international right now, from many places in the world. Very, very sweet.

I've changed the settings so muting won't be possible, and the chat will only come to me. I ask that we keep that channel quiet because it can be quite distracting. And last but not least, I'll turn on the recording for the sake of AudioDharma.

Hello, dear international Sangha. It's so sweet to get all the hellos from all these different time zones, joining each other to practice.

Happy Hour: Support Is Available

For our theme for practice for this moment in time, I'd like to invite us to consider the cultivation of appreciating that support is available. Support is available internally and externally. There are many sources of support internally that, sometimes when things are challenging in our lives, we may forget. And of course, there are many sources of support externally.

Through remembering this goodness of support, we can tie back into the sense of goodwill, kindness, and goodness that's available for us internally and externally, that we are held in. That is our way in tonight. I will say a lot more during the meditation, but I think that's enough of a frame. Let's just dive in and practice together.

Guided Meditation

I'd like to invite us all to settle and arrive. Settle in your seat, on your sit bones, however you are sitting, lying down, or maybe standing if that's what's appropriate right now.

Turn your gaze inward, connecting with the breath. Feel the sensations of the breath in the lower abdomen. Letting awareness be spacious and receive the breath. Relaxing, softening, letting go of whatever is not needed in this moment. Letting yourself be simple. Allowing the space of the heart and the mind to be simple.

If thoughts are arising, say hello. They serve as entertainment, distraction, or plans. It's okay. It's all right. You see them smilingly: "Thank you. Thank you for trying to plan, remember, or reminisce. Please come back later. Not now. I'm giving my whole heart in this moment to this practice."

Just this breath in this body, in this moment. Calming, soothing, settling with each breath. Let this breath in this moment be nourishing. All that's needed, nothing more. Just loving awareness and the breath, the sensations of the breath. That's all.

Let awareness be your support. Recognize it as support. Kind awareness. This breath. Knowing the breath as support, like a lifeline. Can you lean into and rest in the support of this in-breath and out-breath in this moment, and the knowing of it? Feel it supporting you, filling your whole heart and body. The breath as support, bringing a sense of stability, integrity, and inner support.

Now, can we turn the awareness or knowing to the body, the feet, and the earth? If you're sitting on a cushion, your legs on the earth, feel that sense of connection to the earth. Sitting in this body, not moving. The stability of support. The stability of the body, calming and supportive.

While we stay embodied, appreciating the support of the breath and the body's stability, let us bring awareness to one inner strength. We have internal sources of strength which are a source of support, and it could be anything. Maybe you tend to be persistent, curious, gentle with yourself, kind to yourself and others, understanding, or anything else.

Bring to mind this source of inner support. Maybe you reach out for support. Bring this strength to mind and breathe with it. Feel its goodness. Your support, available internally. Breathe, not to think about this source of inner strength—it's not a rumination, it's not an invitation to think—but to breathe with this strength. Feel it in your bones, in your heart. Maybe with just one word.

Now, if you will, open the door of the home of our hearts to those who support us. Bring them to your heart's home, to your mind's eye. Maybe some family, friends, sources of support. People who appreciate you, see your strength, and are rooting for you. Maybe they simply wish you well; they are well-wishers. And it's okay if they're alive or passed away, seen or unseen.

Breathe in the goodwill, the support. Again, not ruminating, thinking, or planning, just feeling and breathing with the sense of goodwill and support that's available. Maybe it helps to just see them looking at you with kind eyes. Bring each person, each being, front and center. See them looking at you with goodwill, with care. Receive the support.

Let yourself feel supported, receiving the goodwill and kindness that is available now and has been available in the past. Maybe some people from your past show up in your mind's eye. Feel their goodwill; feel the continuation of their goodwill. There may be people from the future you haven't met yet, with whom your life is intertwined through time. Feel their goodwill. Such a network, such a net of support. Support is available.

Allow yourself to feel the support, both internal—from your inner resources, body, breath, awareness, your strengths, your values—as well as external. The people in your life, your resources. If you have aches and pains, yes, there are medical professionals available you can reach out to. Support, internal and external. There are challenges in life, of course. Everybody's life has challenges. And there is support.

In the last few minutes, also consider the people you have supported, the beings you have supported. Recognize that you are a support for others, have been, and will be. That can bring a sense of strength. Know your own goodness and being of support.

As in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, where the angel shows the protagonist what the world would have been like had they not been there, without their support. Maybe a couple of vignettes come up for you, so you can appreciate the support you have given to others. You are a source of support. A sense of goodwill and appreciation for this being who is you.

Now letting go of all these reflections. Just coming back to the body, to the breath, to awareness. Awareness is premier support. The power of knowing. Knowing the breath, knowing sensations, knowing thoughts, knowing consciousness is amazing support.

As we bring this practice period to a close, let us share the goodness of our practice, the goodness of our heart, all the support we've received, the support we've given, and the goodness of all of our cultivation. Sharing it with the world. May all beings everywhere, including myself, be well, feel supported, and feel the support that's available in the world. And may we all be of support to one another. May all beings be well. May all beings be free.

Small Group Reflections

Thanks, everyone. Thanks for your practice and the support of your practice, both for yourself and for the community. So many sources of support—internal, external, our own goodness. External, the beings we're connected to, the way we have supported them. Such a party! There's so much support. Wow, my heart feels more full after this meditation, feeling the support that's available, and recognizing that this being is a source of support. A sense of uprightness and goodness. Oh yes, I play my part in this interconnected world.

Speaking of support, being support for others, and allowing others to support you, we will transition into small groups as a way of supporting each other's practice. Showing up and being supported, and appreciating and enjoying that support.

The inquiry tonight is for each person to name one source of support, internal or external, and then the next person, and the next. It can be like a celebration of all these sources of support. People might name some things you haven't even thought about, like, "Oh yeah, that is a source of support in my life." It can be quite inspiring, going above and beyond the things that I've shared and mentioned.

The invitation is to show up in the small groups with the intention to support each other. We'll go around, each person sharing one, then the next person. Then coming to you again to share something else as a source of support, going round and round. Not asking questions, not directing, but just showing up. You can also show up with silence and say, "I'm showing up with silence, offering my awareness and support." That's perfectly fine. You don't have to speak; you can just offer your presence.

Be kind to each other; be kind to yourself. Those are the important things to remember. I'm going to open the rooms right now. If it's possible for you to turn on your camera in the group, that would be wonderful so that you can actually see each other. If it's not possible, it's okay. Let's go in alphabetical order and enjoy the support. Here we go.

[Breakout sessions occur]

Okay, the rooms are closed, and everybody's back. We have some time for any reflections, aha moments, questions, or challenges. What did you discover in this practice, either in the guided meditation as you explored on your own, or in the group as you explored sources of support? Especially if you haven't spoken recently, I'd like to ask you first to pull forward into the brave space and share your insights. Bill, please.

Bill: Some of our group mentioned something that I'm not sure if I misunderstood or got right, but the idea occurred to me of supporting myself by supporting others, like doing volunteer work.

Nikki: Thank you, beautiful. Yes, I love that. That is a strong support. When we give, we actually receive so much, and volunteer work is definitely an example. Fred, please.

Fred: I think I'm stating the obvious, but I just want to state it anyway. This exercise brought forward this extraordinary structure of support that was largely human. If I had time to get beyond all those people for whom I feel such gratitude, there would have been a whole bunch of non-human supports too. Like the road that I can step out on, or the fact that the mail comes. But also the fact that I've had the opportunity in big ways, and I hope will continue to have the opportunity, to be of support to other people. It's both of those things that are really important. I feel like I can't quite express it all, but just the depth of support and love from so many people... I'm just really grateful for that. Thank you.

Nikki: Thank you, Fred. You put it so well. As you said, it wasn't quite the obvious; I think there are many nuances that you added, and you put it eloquently. Ali, please.

Ali: Thank you for the exercise. I'm beginning to see the goodness that I have and the support that I have for me. Seeing what is right with me versus what's wrong, which has been deeply conditioned.

Nikki: Thank you, Ali. That is so common for all of us human beings. It's the conditioning we have to turn towards what's missing, what's bad, what's negative. We turn toward that more than towards what's good, what's working, what's great. So yes, welcome to being human, Ali. And it's wonderful to practice turning to the goodness, which is part of what we do in Happy Hour. Marianne, yours will be the last reflection.

Marianne: Not being very used to this... like you say, it's human to look at the other side of it. I found it wonderful, and I noticed I was excited to do it. But I noticed I had a hard time keeping it non-egotistical. I had to continually remind myself, "Oh, let's steer it back to just what we're grateful for, not what we might be proud of," or something like that. Anyway, that was interesting because it's a newer thing.

Nikki: Thank you. I do appreciate that, and I'm so glad that you spoke up because this is an important discrimination to make. It takes sensitivity to notice what you noticed, to realize, "Oh yeah, okay, now we're..."