Tara Brach - Meditation: Calling on Our Inner Bodhisattva (2020-07-01)

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

Meditation: Calling on Our Inner Bodhisattva (2020-07-01) - We each have within us the very source of wisdom and love. This meditation calls forward that essence, our awakening heart, so we can seek guidance and nurturing for the parts of us that need a healing attention. 

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. Please find a comfortable way to sit. And as you settle, close your eyes and feel your sitting posture so that you're alert and at ease. We begin together, breathing together. You might take a nice long, deep in breath,

And that slow out breath that allows you to feel a releasing, a letting go. Inhaling again, full deep in-breath. And a slow out-breath, letting go. Letting go. And again, inhaling deeply. And sense with the out-breath that you can let go of any thoughts that are unnecessary. Letting go. Nice, full, deep, in-breath.

Letting go of body tensions, the most obvious. whatever's accumulated. And breathing in and with the out breath, letting go of tightness, armoring around the heart, and letting the breath resume in a natural way, natural rhythm. And still sense with the in breath that you're taking in,

you're letting in, healing, energy, receptive. With the in breath, it's like a balloon that's swelling a bit. And with the out breath, that deflating, letting go, releasing. Continuing to breathe in this way and gently scanning through your body, noticing the more subtle areas of tightness or tension. It's helpful to check the area of the brow,

letting the brow be smooth. Let the eyes be soft. It helps to have a very slight but real smile at the lips and relax the tongue. Let it fill the lower palate and relax down to the base of the tongue. So you can feel the whole mouth, lips, tongue, gums, teeth. Awake with sensation. Let those micro muscles in the face all be relaxed.

And allowing the shoulders to relax back and down. And feeling the awareness inside the shoulders, allowing whatever knots or tension might be there, to float in awareness, to naturally untangle, soften, dissolve. And it can help you to accompany this with the breath. So as you breathe in, you're receiving the breath in that area. And with the out breath relaxing from the inside out, whatever is in the area of the shoulders.

Softening the hands. And then soften again. perhaps feeling the breath in the hands, feeling the aliveness in the hands, and let there be an openness to the chest, breathing in and out of the heart. As you breathe in, letting the heart be touched with awareness, receptive. And as you breathe out, releasing, letting go of any tightness or tension that might be keeping the heart closed, in the same way feeling the breath at the belly as the breath comes in,

softening, opening, receiving. And as the breath goes out, letting go of any blocks to a full flow of energy. Breathing into your back, the upper back, letting go with the out breath and the mid back, letting the pelvic region be filled with awareness. Breathing, opening, letting go the volume of the legs, the sense of the sensations that fill the feet so that as you now widen the attention you can feel this whole body breathing with the in-breath filling this whole energy body with awareness and with the out-breath letting go of anything that blocks the full flow of energy flow of aliveness breathing and resting in this awake presence where the changing flow of life sounds sensations feelings and in the background this witnessing awake presence it's natural that the attention will

wander find yourself drifting and thoughts of the future or past or it's kind of a dreamlike reverie and when there's that noticing the possibility is to choose to gently arrive back again in presence, to listen to the sounds that are actually right here, to again feel that movement of the breath, breathing into the body, perhaps re-letting go through the shoulders, the hands, the belly, and the heart.

Again, feeling that quality of heerness, the wakefulness, the presence that can include changing experience, witnessing, feeling with kindness, what's here. This is the source of what we might call the inner bodhisattva, this wakeful, kind presence. Now as a way of more intentionally calling forward our inner bodhisattva, you might sense ahead in time, 10 years, 15, 20, and that you're going to encounter kind of the manifestation of this inner Bodhisattva or what you might call your future self, an older, wiser, awake version of yourself, who you are when the self-preoccupation is gone,

who you are when there's the possibility of loving without holding back, when wisdom can shine through. So visualize yourself. You might visualize your future self's home picture where your future self is in this home and how this older, more evolved, awake self looks, perhaps clothing, hair, facial expression. And sensing that your current self is about to encounter is there in that presence, notice the look. in their eyes as you meet, the welcome, the unconditional friendliness. Notice what their presence is like, how it feels to be with them, that this is the inner bodhisattva in its evolved, manifested state.

And feeling into your current life and sense where you might get stuck in a smaller place, sense what wants a healing attention right now in your life. And it might be something that brings up self-judgment that disconnects you from that inner bodhisattva, or maybe when you get caught in fear or anger, shame. It might be something coming up around the uncertainties in our world, the danger, the racial violence. It might be something coming up in a personal,

relationship, at work with your finances, your health, addictive behavior. Whatever it is, just notice a place in your life that wants your healing attention, the healing attention of your inner Bodhisattva. And take some moments to connect with that experience. If it happens in a certain place, see the setting, when you get triggered, where you are you all? the room you're in or if you're outside what's happening and if there's someone else involved see their face and hear what they might be saying and notice when you get triggered when you start feeling stuck what you're believing what are you believing about yourself or about the world is it that you're in some way bad or unworthy or unlovable or that you can't

trust others you're not save notice the feelings that come up with that belief. So getting a sense, a filled sense of when you get stuck, asking your inner bodhisattva, your future self for help. You might whisper whatever words feel attuned to where you are, resonate for you. It might be please love me, please guide me, please protect me. but in some way communicate the help you want to your inner Bodhisattva. Sense how that feels to ask. And you might now explore placing your hand on your heart. And imagine that your inner Bodhisattva can communicate by surrounding you and filling you

with their awareness, with their light, with their warmth, and by directly sending care through your hand into the most vulnerable part of your being, visualizing that light, sensing the warmth, feeling bathed by the presence of this awake being, letting your touch be tender, and listening deeply, what is the message, the wisdom that your inner bodhisattva's offering? What are they reminding you of?

What are you being invited to trust? And as you take in whatever the message is, and it may be silence, it may be words, it may be an image. Let yourself be fully in this moment. Feel your breath. Be right where you are. Listening, sensing, taking in the care of your own awakened heart, taking in the wisdom of whatever, that awake heart, that wise heart's offering, and sensing how the love and wisdom of your most evolved being lives in you now,

right here and always. Trusting that with practice, you'll increasingly and naturally be able to access and live from this goodness, this goal, this awakened heart with more and more ease.