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Happy Hour: We Have the Power To Choose Our Perspective

Guided Meditation

Hello everyone, and greetings. Lovely to be with you wherever in the world you are, whatever time zone, and to be together in this moment in time. What I'd like to invite us to do is to transition actually into our meditation, and I'll introduce the theme during the guided meditation. I won't say so much about it right now.

If you're new to Happy Hour, welcome. You don't need to know anything. Whatever is needed will be presented and shared with you. Whatever arises, as long as you treat it with kindness, interest, and curiosity, then you're doing this practice exactly right. It's all about cultivating kindness and goodwill towards ourselves, others, and whatever mayhem might arise in our minds. Cultivating kindness is the main teaching, and of course, we'll take different ways to cultivate it and play around with this idea. Again, even if you're visited by sleepiness and distraction, just be kind. Be kind, be kind. That's the only thing to remember.

Let's begin. Landing in our posture, landing in our bodies. If you're sitting in a chair, bringing attention to your body sitting upright. A sense of brightness in your spine, a sense of integrity. Maybe rolling your shoulders back just a little bit, opening the chest. Making sure the bottoms of your feet are on the earth, your hands on your lap. If you're sitting on a cushion, I trust you know what to do. Lying down is okay if your body needs it, and so is standing. I'm going to assume that you're sitting, just for simplicity of instructions.

Feeling your bottom on the cushion or on the chair, and releasing. Relaxing. There being a sense of release of your weight. The weight of your upper body, your sit bones offering the weight of your head, your shoulders, your trunk, your arms, your hands. Letting your sit bones sink, just relax. Be pulled down by the earth. You might feel this tiny shift, this release.

Releasing the weight of your upper legs, knees, lower legs, and feet into the earth. Releasing, giving, offering the weight of your body. You don't have to hold it up. Trust gravity. Let the body be heavy, and let the breath be light. Receiving the breath in the lower abdomen.

Let the body be heavy, and enjoy the breath moving through the body. Just this breath. Not the last one, not the next one. Just the same breath. Just this out-breath, right here. Spend some time to settle and arrive with the breath. This breath.

If your thoughts are arising—past, future—it's alright. Simply notice that thinking is happening right now. Okay, that's what minds do. They're like puppies; they run around. Be kind to the puppy. "Thank you, puppy." And releasing. Inviting the puppy to sit on your lap. Just attend to the breath. A puppy of attention can be quite content to sit here with the breath, and it's going to run around again. Again, be kind to the puppy of the mind. Enjoy the breath in this moment. Take a few minutes to collect and settle the mind.

Take refuge. You've chosen this time to settle, to make friends with yourself. So do it. Allow it to happen. "Thank you, thought, not now." Enjoying the breath here and now.

Agree with this breath, just this one breath, in a friendly way. Just one breath. Then when that's accomplished, okay, this one more breath. But just this breath. Start here, now. Just this breath. The entirety of the in-breath, entirely the out-breath. Can I be with you with kindness?

If and when you notice the mind has wandered, it's okay. Reconnect with the breath. Begin again with kindness towards yourself. Not chastising, not berating yourself. This is how this works: you let go, you reconnect with a smile. "Oh, just here." Just this breath. One breath at a time, really, just this, and you become fully, fully present. Just this in-breath, this out-breath. And then let it go. And then this one is right here.

What if everything you need, all the support to grow, to be kind, to be wise—all the support you need in your life—what if it's all here already? Even if there are plenty of challenges seemingly in the body, the mind, relationally, whatever there might be... what if this is enough? Not just enough, but more than enough?

Let the heart relax, settle. A sense of ease, a sense of trust. The heart having courage in the kindness and the goodness that surrounds you inside and outside, starting here. Trusting, making a decision to see the universe as a friendly place, as Einstein said. Taking on this perspective—we can take so many perspectives, just take this one on as if you're changing your glasses. You can always take these glasses off later after the meditation. Just try it on for size to see what happens. Experiment. Be a scientist of your own mind.

Not so much thinking about it, but just resting in a sense of confidence that it's all okay, it always has been, and will ever be. Even if you don't understand this insight, just try it on for size for a moment. That you're playing your part in this interconnected, vast network. Relax, relax, and be breathed.

Love what is in this moment. We always go back to not liking it afterwards. If you just love what is in this moment kindly. Loving the struggle, loving the challenges, the edges as well as the ease, the good. If you are going through something in this moment in your body that's challenging and tight, achy... can you open your heart, open your arms wide to it? Just love it as it is. It doesn't have to be any different. Still welcome it fully, loving what it is. See if the heart relaxes, the body relaxes.

As we turn towards ending this sitting period, can we love what is? Whatever showed up or did not show up during this period. No need for self-judgment. Even if self-judgment arrives, can we just love that too, as a friend who's just cranky, but we know they mean well, they're just cranky? Can we love them too? Love what is.

Can we extend our hearts with appreciation, with goodness? Gifting our goodness together to others: our friends, family, our community. Can we show up with goodness, loving as best as we're able to in this limited time we have, each of us on this earth? So short. And offering our goodness collectively, the benefit of our cultivation, our meditation. These seeds we plant and water that will grow. Offering our goodness to all beings everywhere. May all beings everywhere be well. May they be free. Including ourselves.

Thanks, everyone. Thanks for your practice.

Reflections

So loving what is in this moment, loving what it is. Practice, it's like putting on a pair of glasses. "Okay, let me try this on for size." What shifts? What changes? Things can shift and change.

We're going to have a chance now to show up with one another in small groups. Whatever is said or not said internally in the group, can we love what is? Can we just practice for a few minutes in a small group? The rubber meeting the road. Can you show up with kindness with two strangers, or maybe two friends, and just show up with kindness, loving what is in the moment? Even if it's back pain, which I'm currently loving... whatever is arising, just loving what is.

The invitation for the small groups—we're going to try to make them of size three for everyone—is to go in alphabetical order. Each person will share, maybe just thirty seconds or a minute: What was this practice like? You can say, "I fell asleep. I couldn't love anything. This was the reverse." It's all okay. But make it very short so that the other folks will have the time to share as well. Or if your time comes, you can just say, "Pass. I'm going to hold compassionate presence. I'm going to love the silence," and you can perfectly do that, no problem. Just show up with kindness. That's for yourself and for others. Even if you're cranky or afraid, show up with kindness towards the crankiness and the fear. This is a great sandbox, this lovely community of just showing up with kindness. You can be silent, and each person will offer silence or just thirty seconds or a minute. Not asking questions, not directing. Just show up as you are supportively and listen, listen, listen.

Alright, I'm going to create the rooms. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Be kind, and enjoy. Here we go.

[Group discussion period]

Okay, the rooms are closed. Everybody is back. Welcome back, everyone. We have time for reflections. What did you notice? Any aha moments during the meditation? Any aha moments during the small group conversations? Especially if you haven't spoken recently, or if you're new, I'd love to hear your reflections, both for your own benefit and shared for the benefit of others. Again, this sharing is not from a place of ego and "look at me." It's more like, "Oh, look what I discovered in my common humanity with others." It can really help the community that way. Don, please.

Don: Well, first, thanks so much, Nikki and Sangha^[1]. One of my favorite parts of the day. I was really sleepy. I was falling asleep, and then I thought, "Oh no, I'm just going to leave." And I left. And then I thought, "Oh wait, if I can exercise, then maybe that'll wake me up." And so that's what I did. I got back on and was doing some exercise with the video off, over "loving what is."

Nikki Mirghafori: Yeah, sometimes if you've had a lack of sleep and sleep deprivation, of course, when you start to become calm, that's where the mind goes. It's like, "Oh, you have this debt you need to pay." You're like, "No, no, I want to meditate." It's like, "No, you've got debt." So opening the eyes... sometimes we say walking meditation, movement meditation. Meditating while you move. Exercising is also movement meditation, and when you're really present with the movement of the body, so great you worked with it. Beautiful. Thanks for that report. Yay! Awesome. Any other reflections? What came up? Nell, please.

Nell: Well Nikki, thank you for your share. What I actually have an aversion to is tomorrow's work, because this is the night before going to work tomorrow. I have this aversion to work. So when you actually suggested shifting the lens or changing the eyeglasses, I said, "Well, maybe I could actually love work for tomorrow." And then it suddenly shifted. I thank you for giving that insight. Thank you so much.

Nikki Mirghafori: Thanks for sharing that, Nell. I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm curious. First, just to say it sounds amazing and wonderful that you tried it and you were curious like, "Oh yeah, let me try it," and you tried it and then it shifted. Is there anything else you're willing to share? Like how it shifted? What opened up about work that was not available before?

Nell: Well, I realized that the lens is always there to shift. It's a matter of choosing what lens to look through. I am so grateful for this Sangha and to you.

Nikki Mirghafori: Thank you, Nell. You nailed it beautifully. The lens is always there, and we can always choose. That's one thing that cannot be taken away from us. Everything else can go, but our freedom to choose is our first and last freedom—how we choose to see something. Thank you. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing your insight with the community. Love it, love it.

Thank you all. Thank you so much for your practice. We're going to close and dedicate the merit^[2] of our practice to all beings. May all beings know that they can choose. All humans, the perspective is ours to choose. May all beings choose the perspective of freedom, including ourselves. May we all be free.

Thanks, everyone. Thank you so much for your practice. Be well. Have a good week.