Love and Awareness

Love is not something that we do, it's something that is. It's not something that we say, it's something we are. When we cultivate the quality of awareness, we're at the same time cultivating love. So love in this instance, of course, is referring to the unconditional nature of love, the limitless nature of love. And if you think how love and awareness, you know, we can talk about them as separate qualities of mind, but ultimately they're one and the same thing. And in the same way that as we train our awareness, there's a quality of being, that quality of nonjudgmental observation. We can't make it happen, it's not really something we do, we simply create the conditions for it to arise. In just the same way as we sit and allow the mind to be less judgmental, more open, perhaps a little warmer, a little kinder, we create the conditions for love to arise. So not trying to make it happen, not trying to hold onto it, but instead, simply creating the space for love to be present. So just taking a moment now to pause, to give the body and the mind a chance to settle. Gonna start with the eyes open and a deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. As you breathe in, just noticing how the chest expands, and as you breathe out, noticing how the body softens. And with the out breath, just closing the eyes, and just feeling the weight of the body pressing down. Noticing the contact against the seat or the floor beneath you, perhaps the feet on the floor, the hands, the arms resting on the legs. Noticing any sounds. And then bringing the attention back to the body as you just start to notice not only how the body feels but also the movement of breath in the body. So notice if the breaths are short, shallow, long, or deep. Notice where in the body you feel the movement of breath. Remember, allowing thoughts to come and go. The moment you realize the mind's wandered, just letting go of that and bringing the attention back to the breath again. And just letting go of that focus now. Just bringing the attention back to the body, that feeling of weight and contact. Noticing the different sounds around you. And when you're ready, just opening the eyes again....