Tara Brach - Reflection: RAIN - Entering the Wilderness (2016-03-09)

Episode Date: March 12, 2016

Meditation: RAIN - Entering the Wilderness (2016-03-09) - This short reflection, guided by the acronym RAIN, engages mindfulness and compassion as we open to life that we’ve been pushing away. By including unlived life, we reconnect with the fullness of our being, with vibrant, loving awareness. Your support enables us to continue to offer these talks freely. If you value them, I hope you will consider offering a donation at this time at www.tarabrach.com/donation/. With thanks and love, Tara

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. So let's spend a little bit of time with a meditation about entering the wilderness. And as you come into stillness, just the sense that this wilderness is our nature, our friend, it's a source of wisdom, it's a place of healing, love. That doesn't mean that it's not difficult, that all the weather systems in the universe exist, that it is our portal to wholeness. And the pathway includes embracing the unlived life. So as you take these moments you might find somewhere in your life where you're already

very aware distinctively of how you go into trance. Some situation that you might not be able to pause in the midst of the situation but you You can reflect on it right now from this vantage point. Situation where you get very speeded up or very caught in judgment, perhaps where you get caught obsessing and trying to figure out solving a problem, where you get squeezed with that sense of something's wrong or something's going to go wrong and you leave yourself. You have a situation in mind, this is a kind of applied meditation. and the reign of embodiment, just to recognize, okay, this is trance.

This is the doing, defend itself, leaving, cutting off. That's the recognizing. The allowing is to not make yourself wrong for it. Everybody, everybody, everybody leaves the moment, leaves our bodies. we all do it at times. So just to allow, just say, okay, allowing, accepting, give it some space, and that'll enable you to move to the eye of rain.

When you're in that, and go ahead and let yourself be aware of what it's like when you're in those circumstances, when you're triggered, when you're in that, and you're afraid of what's around the corner, afraid of failure. If you investigate what's it like in your body, perhaps you can feel your throat, your chest, your belly and just imagine that situation and feel what goes on. We've spent millions of moments leaving our bodies.

This deconditions the trance, being willing to enter the wilderness. What's happening? Is there a clutch of anxiety? Is there a feeling of embarrassment or shame? Is there the heat of anger? Just stay. Breathe and stay. Investigating and noticing.

And as you do, you might begin the end of rain to sensing that you're offering kind, caring energy to whatever you're noticing. For some, it's helpful to bring the hand to the heart, as a way of that gesture that really is one of sincere nourishing. Whatever you're noticing, okay, this is the deconditioning of trance. We're entering the wilderness. We enter with our investigating curious mind and we enter with kindness.

Notice what's happening in your body. Breathe with it. Even if you haven't been able to get in touch with a strong emotion, Whatever you're feeling right now counts. Breathe with it, whatever's predominant. Inhabit this aliveness that's right here, however it is. Feel from the inside out, the throat, the chest, the belly. Let it be washed through with kindness.

And then for these last few moments, simply rest. Let your intention be to let life be just as it is, just to be. Let this life live through you now. Keep relaxing back and letting be. In the moments of embracing the unlived life and then simply being, we discover a heart as wide as the world. This is how John Muir put it.

This is a song by John Muir as part of our close. Here is a calm so deep, grasses, seas waving. Everything in wild nature fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us. The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not pass but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls and every bird

song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks and the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love. Taking a few full breaths, opening your eyes. We're going to continue this exploration because there's an inquiry that I didn't really touch on tonight, which is, what about if it's too much? What if it's too hard to enter the wilderness? We're going to explore how we can do it gradually, wisely, kindly. When we face that, it feels like too much experience. But in the meanwhile, I'd like to invite you to practice during these weeks. When you notice you're off, practice just pausing

and arriving again in your senses with interest and kindness. Thank you for your attention. Namaste. For more talks and meditations and to learn about my schedule or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com.