The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. Valentine’s Day is when we traditionally gift each other affection. Affection springs from empathy. Empathy makes so much possible: acceptance, forgiveness, kindness, patience and understanding. We start by sitting still. Jon Kabat Zinn describes “sitting still and being quiet for a time as a radical act of love.” When thinking about why this is loving, I was reminded of trying to meet the sometimes inexhaustible needs of a baby. I can bring so much willingness to a baby in my arms – especially when there is another set of arms when I get tired. One doesn’t control a baby. One doesn’t control the mind. Paradoxically we can become intimate with the nature of our minds. The loving awareness of our hearts can hold distraction, strong emotion, fatigue and even pain.
Sitting still this week I connected with that part of myself that spends so much energy trying to avoid feeling vulnerable. This is like trying to hide from the sun. Meditation is not about trying to stop thinking. It’s a practice that embraces our wholeness. Gradually we develop an inner stability to recognize the many mind-states we try to hide from – vulnerability, self-judgment, anger, fear among so many others. Slowly we learn to relax, tolerate and finally feel compassion for our difficult emotions. You can do it. You can be it. It starts with sitting still, relaxing and trusting.
We drew inspiration from poet Galway Kinnell’s poem, St. Francis and the Sow. Kinnell’s work was informed by his experience as a field worker in the Congress of Racial Equality and activist in the civil rights movement. He was a passionate follower of Walt Whitman.
In his essay, Healing the Cracks, Buddhist monk and meditation teacher Ajahn Sucitto describes ways of expanding the field of “loving awareness.” He teaches about empathy and “inter-subjectivity.” When we can offer ourselves empathy we can expand to include others. We can refrain from imprisoning ourselves and others in judgment. We can learn to accept our feeling, thinking selves as a constellation of experiences that are ever-changing. We are all subject to conditioning. We can learn to cultivate loving conditions, emotions and thoughts.
Finally we heard David Whyte’s poem Second Sight. David’s poem touches on our basic human needs to be seen, heard and touched.
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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. We practiced investigating our experience of being – body, heart and mind. We allowed whatever surfaced in awareness just to be – without having to change it in any way. We can experience ourselves as nature and encounter all our creatureliness without judgment. Like all living things, we are conditioned by experience. We form beliefs and views which shape the way we grow and learn. Mindfulness/Heartfulness practice allows us to recognize how beliefs and views operate for better or worse.
