Regardless of what is occurring in our internal or external world, it is impermanent. It arrives and then it departs. When we learn to broaden our perspective to recognize that everything in life is impermanent, we stop clinging so tightly to thoughts, beliefs and events, many of which cause undue suffering.
Our meditations are best practiced by listening to the podcast:
If you prefer to read the meditation to familiarize yourself with it first, here you go!
Sit comfortably straight, with your feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes or soften your gaze by staring at the floor about two feet in front of you.
Breathe normally, noticing your breath. Focus on how it feels as it flows in and out of your body. Notice where you feel it most strongly in your body.
As you breathe, notice how life’s journey is just like a stream.
Life is a series of events that pass you. No matter what comes down the stream, it will pass.
Whether you judge each event as good or bad, it is simply an experience and it will pass into the past.
Focus on your breath, recognizing that each breath passes as it moves out of your body. And then another breath in occurs. Breathing in, breathing out.
Sometimes it may feel as if the stream is rushing by and you can barely keep up with noticing what is passing. But whether slow or fast, it all still passes.
You may not know what is heading your way in the stream, but making up stories about what may be coming doesn’t serve you. You’re simply making up stories. And no matter what does come, it will pass. You can choose to cling to the emotion it elicits, or cling to the memory after it passes, or you can choose to allow it to pass right through you.
The past is done. Why spend so much time rehashing the past? You can’t change it. You can choose to simply let it go. Breathing in the present, breathing out the past.
Spend the next few moments following your breath and feeling gratitude for the present moment.
The only real time is now. The only event you can experience is the one you are having in this moment. Then it, too, will pass.
For the rest of the day, notice how events pass by. See if you can allow these events to simply pass, without clinging to them. Feel gratitude for the present where life is happening right now.