The Mystery of What Is Always Here
El Misterio de Lo Que Siempre Está Aquí
A gentle invitation to listen deeply, trust what is already here, and discover that this moment holds everything you have ever wanted.
The Mystery of What Is Always Here
Listening and trust
When it comes to meeting and sharing in this way,
there are two things that are fundamental.
The most important is the mystery of sharing,
of coming together,
the intention that brings us.
There is something that is calling,
and we listen.
We've heard the calling.
The rest is less important.
There's not much else to do.
And the deeper we listen,
the more things will happen on their own,
by coming to this group,
other groups meditating,
reading,
dancing.
The second thing, very related, is trust.
We won't listen if we don't trust.
And by listening, I mean to something in us,
not to me.
The trust is in something deeper.
That trust can be placed temporarily on a teacher,
and it can be appropriate,
but ultimately it is a trust in something deeper,
what has been called faith.
There can't be a trust or a faith in something known or knowable,
since something you can sense, you can't really make much of it.
It's incomprehensible, yes.
What if this moment is enough
So as we come together here,
let me gently invite you.
What if this moment,
every moment,
has everything you've ever wanted?
When we look for changes in our experience,
something different and better in the future,
that's all fine and appropriate to some degree.
But ultimately, what we're really truly looking for
is always here.
That is all you need.
Piercing through interpretations.
Something missing,
something not okay right now.
Don't deny it.
Respect that.
The constant dissatisfaction
You notice that sense,
that lingering sense of something always missing.
If you've noticed this, you've gone very deep.
The constant dissatisfaction; in Buddhism, dukkha.
That sense that nothing fixes it,
no matter how much we get what we want,
achieve, experience,
it always keeps coming back.
If you notice this, you've gone very deep.
To truly resolve this,
we need to get very close,
and trust that it can be resolved,
ultimately,
completely,
permanently.
Coming to presence
How do we get close?
Coming to presence,
into the colloquial here and now.
Sensing the breath,
observing thoughts.
There are sounds, sensations, thoughts.
We keep noticing mind wandering, distractions.
It's not the mind that distracts, it's us,
choosing thought to avoid sensations.
Notice the discomfort,
all forms of something not okay with this.
Something missing,
something that could or should be different.
Subtle forms of restlessness, anxiety,
irritation,
tension,
boredom,
disconnection.
Going right into it
Going right into it.
Exquisite attention.
Openness.
Something can happen right now in this.
With patience, something might open,
a form of falling in love with what is.
No matter what it is.
What is here, what always is, is I,
the deepest.
This beingness is beauty,
aliveness.
The heart opens to this moment.
It's just love for what is,
for no reason.
It is always here
It's already here.
We discover it in the depth,
and it's always there for no reason.
It's always here,
so close,
so intimate,
in the same place we call I.
It can be subtle, like a flickering candle.
Slowly, it can be seen to be everything.
This I-ness, this mystery, this beauty,
is the sounds, is the sensation,
is the discomfort,
is the worry.
Nothing remains to battle with.
When we know the deepest beauty and love,
and the deepest fear and pain,
all our internal battles will end.
This is the understanding:
freedom and love are the same thing.