Material World

Hello, and welcome back to Night Town. It's lovely to see you here again. The soft light of material world. A cozy fabric shop is beckoning. Mr. Singh, the owner, has traveled far and wide to collect the world's finest fabrics, silks, cotton, and cashmere, rugs, tapestries, and wallpaper. As he moves through the shop among a kaleidoscope of bright fabrics, he is flooded with memories of his childhood in Rajasthan. Gentle music plays from upstairs. Before we start exploring the shop, let's pause for a brief wind down exercise. Tonight's wind down is an exercise we call noting. It helps to soothe the mind, and once you've learned it, you can even use it if you wake up during the night. We're going to be counting our breaths and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. We're not trying to change them, we're simply labeling thinking as thinking, feeling as feeling. It may sound incredibly simple, but it can help to create distance between ourselves and the thought and ourselves and the feeling so we don't get so involved in it. That, in turn, creates a more restful state of mind. In other words, the perfect conditions for gentle, restful sleep. So, to begin, just take a moment or two to get comfortable. Make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some big, deep breaths. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And with the next out breath, allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm, in and out through the nose. And feeling the weight of the body pressing you down into your bed. And in your own time, starting to count the breaths as they pass. One with the rise, two with the fall, just up to a count of 10. When you get to 10, you can stop and start again at one. And remember, anytime you get distracted, the moment you realize you are distracted by thought, simply note it thinking and return to the breath. Or if a feeling arises, note it as feeling and return to the breath. Noting is very gentle, not harsh at all. Think of it like a feather, just gently touching the surface of a crystal glass. I'm going to give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. That's great. As night falls, Mr. Singh lights the lamps inside the store. He shuffles over the soft carpets from one wall to the next, flipping switches. Some of the lamps are shaped like large glass petals. Some are carved and tall, standing on the floor, and some are placed on tables. Others have small fabric lampshades like upturned cups. As he turns them on one by one, the lamps illuminate sumptuous fabrics of all textures and hues. Silks, cashmeres, and soft cotton, rolls of carpets, sheaves of wallpaper, and swatches for upholstery. After lighting the lamps, Mr. Singh walks to a...