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Guided Meditation: Stability

Greetings. Every morning when I come to IMC, I pass by IMC's redwood tree. There's one redwood tree here in this part of California, which is redwood territory. For those of you who don't know redwoods, they are massive. They can be massive trees, some of the oldest and tallest trees in California. The one on our property here, the base has a diameter of about 10 feet—over three meters. These massive trees mostly go very, very straight up.

At the base, the trunk is really stable. It is firm and rooted. It has very wide, shallow roots, and those roots spread out very shallowly. Together with the roots, the weight, and the straightness of it, the bottom of the tree is very, very stable and unmoving. But when you get up to the very top, you see it gently moving with the wind. Even with very strong storm winds, you see it gently moving back and forth, giving into the wind and coming back to center. It kind of gives in slightly and comes back, always going back to center.

I use this as an analogy for today's topic, which is equanimity. It is possible to find within oneself a deep stability, a deep steadiness and rootedness that keeps us firm and upright, and allows us to move gently with the winds of the world^[1], the difficulties of the world. Of course, we are influenced by it, but we can just be gently moved by it and then come back to center, because we are grounded in a place of stability and equanimity. This stability gives us the equanimity that allows us to be wise and not get caught by all the different winds of the world as they come along.

That is why at the beginning of a meditation session, and for now, it is useful to give attention to your posture. Ideally, you would find a posture that is not just comfortable to sit in, but a posture that provides physical stability. Classically, that is sitting in the cross-legged position, because it creates a very nice tripod—a firm, wide base upon which to support the torso. But it could be other postures as well. If you are sitting in a chair, it can be helpful to have both feet firmly on the ground, the soles of your feet on the floor. That provides a kind of stability.

Feel perhaps your sitting bones, your pelvic bones, on the chair or on your cushion. Feel how the weight of your body settles down into where the chair, the ground, or your cushion receives your weight. This is the beginning of the process of arriving here, being present here, but doing so while evoking some degree of stability.

And then feel your torso. Maybe there are small adjustments to make in your torso so it too can feel a little more stable, steady, and a little bit more grounded, where the weight of your torso settles downwards by relaxing and softening. Relax the shoulders, relax the chest, relax the belly. Because the more relaxed and grounded we are, with the weight held lower down, the more stable we are. The more tension we carry, the more that tension seems to act as an upward lifting, bringing the weight up higher in the body. In a sense, this makes us more brittle or more vulnerable to the winds of the world.

Perhaps you can soften the muscles of your face, softening around the eyes. Perhaps you can bring a little bit of attention to the back of your neck. Perhaps lifting up the back of your skull to make a little bit more space between the last vertebra and the skull. That sometimes pulls the head back a little bit and also tips the chin down. Perhaps it gives the head a firmer, more balanced place on the shoulders.

Then, without breathing more deeply than usual—just a normal breath—as you exhale, let go. Release a little bit more at the end of the exhale. Allow the exhale to be extended a little bit. In that extension and release, allow for a further settling, a further relaxing of the belly, a further settling of your weight. Then feel whatever sense of solidity or stability there is in the body.

This sense of being grounded and rooted here in the body is a process that can prevent the mind and our thoughts from being pushed around by the winds of the world. We become more resilient. We are less likely to live in the world of thoughts and stories, predictions of the future, or memories of the past.

If we do swirl around in our thoughts, it can be helpful to also settle the mind here. Maybe the mind is more like water, and thoughts are the surface waves of the water. Allow the surface to become calmer and stiller. Imagine that as you relax the mind, the surface spreads out in all directions and becomes flatter and stiller, perhaps by relaxing any tension associated with thinking.

If we are disconnected from our bodies, it is all too easy to get swept away in the winds of our thoughts, the waves of our thinking. This is partly because the mind gives a kind of priority to thinking. The task of meditation is to give priority to the present moment, and it is often helpful to do so through the body.

You might become aware of your breathing. Not so much looking at the breath from the control tower, but settling oneself, settling awareness into the experience of the body breathing. Breathing in and breathing out. Perhaps as you exhale, let yourself settle into some stability at the end of the exhale, the body settling. And as you inhale, if you are feeling the breathing in the torso, feel the expansion, the firmness, the filling of the torso with air. It is as if you are feeling the solid, strong trunk of a tree, the trunk of your body, feeling this strength and stability here in this body. As you exhale, letting go of your thoughts and letting go into a steady, stable rootedness in the body.

In this stability and rootedness of the body, do not make anything a problem. Don't make a problem of anything that happens in your mind. As soon as you make something a problem, you are caught by it. Perhaps just let it be the wind that blows by. Stay rooted in your body. Stay with your breathing. Let go of any concern or preoccupation with your thoughts. Let the thoughts just blow right by.

Reflections

To the degree to which there is stability—inner stability in the body—we are less likely to be caught up in our thoughts and preoccupations. The absence of preoccupation can give room for the heart. It can give room for our love, our kindness, and our care.

One of the simple ways of pointing to a possibility of practice is the instruction: be still and gaze upon everything kindly. Be still, softly still, quiet, and gaze upon everything kindly. Be still and gaze upon yourself kindly. Be still and gaze upon others kindly. Be softly still and gaze upon the whole world kindly.

As you do so, may it be that for this day you offer your support for all beings. Offer your support for all people who are working for justice for all. Offer your support for everyone who is working for the health of others, the people on the front lines of COVID-19. May you offer your support to those who are on the front lines of justice, those who are on the front lines of Black Lives Matter.

And may you offer your support to those who have different views from your own, to those who are even opposed to you. Offer your support at least in terms of your willingness to gaze upon them kindly, as hard as that might be. Maybe through our kind gaze, through the stability that we offer, we can stand in solidarity with all beings peacefully and lovingly.

May we bring forth the kindness, peacefulness, and call to justice that lives inside of all beings. Let us help others find it in themselves as well. May all beings be free.