Brother Richard

The blue sky and the earth continue.

The internal weather changes.

the blue sky of the I of your being persists, all held in being by divine love, all held in being by grace.

Gently then you begin to get up from the ground and still warmed from the sun, aware of the blue sky above you and the earth beneath you.

You walk back down the hill through the long grass.

And coming to the edge of the field, you take a moment to look back, knowing that you can come back here whenever you wish.

Making the intention now to recognize thoughts and feelings as just the weather.

Just the weather.

And stepping away from the field, you are at once aware of your feet upon the ground, your back supported by the chair or the cushion.

You begin to move your fingers and your toes.

You take a stretch if you need it.

You take a moment of gratitude.

And then you allow the sound of the bell to draw you back to the activity of the day.

Thank you.

Welcome back.

Today's meditation is recovering the form.

Those of you who have listened and worked with these meditations will know that this is a practice we return to regularly.

It's a foundational practice.

one that allows the practitioner to stabilize in stillness and hopefully, eventually, to be able to bring that stillness with them out of the meditation session and into the rest of the day.

And so we return to it often the same way you would return to basic training if you're trying to invite the body into a deeper level of fitness.