Meditation by the Water

Last Saturday, I led a short meditation overlooking a peaceful stream in the Royal National Park. Thought I’d share a piece of the tranquility with you.

Breathe in, relax. Breathe out, relax.

Open yourself fully to the world around you, embrace the stillness of nature, and be present to this very moment.

Reflect on the calmness of the world beyond you, the sounds of nature, and the silent harmony that pervades the depths of the air you breathe in and out.

Now listen to the world that exists within you. Hear the clattering of your mind, the ceaseless talking to ourselves. See the patterns and habits of the mind – planning, scheming, calculating, judging, comparing, worrying, daydreaming. Note when it flies into the past of memories, reliving them again and again like an addiction to thought. Note when it chases after the future, trying to control time by planning and hoping.

But allow yourself to let all that thinking go, just for a moment. Reassure yourself, that even if you stop thinking for just a few moments, it’ll be ok. Give yourself permission to enjoy this moment, without calculating what you could be doing instead. Encourage yourself that you deserve this time out from the hectic life you lead, and the frantic thinking you are so accustomed to.

When the busyness of life becomes our norm, we forget the importance of stopping. We only know of going. Busyness becomes our life’s structure, and an excuse to be selfish. Busyness changes our priorities where worldly goals come before spiritual ones. Busyness makes us forget, that busyness is not a reality, but an attitude and way of life we have chosen to adopt. Sitting here, you get to choose again. At this moment, can you see this mentality of busyness? Will you choose to take it? Or will you choose to leave it?

Meditation is often neglected as last in our list of priorities. But it is when we are busiest, that meditation is most important to keep our stresses down and our energies high. I would encourage you all to practice meditation, to see the value of this practice, rather than a chore. And I hope this practice will continue, long after this session ends.

So let’s sit in quiet meditation for 10 minutes, so you can truly practice in your own way, whether it’s by focussing on your breath, on the water before you, or spreading metta to all living beings. Please adjust your sitting posture and find your inner peace.