Brother Richard

So let's begin.

Entering the time of meditation, we sit with awareness, letting go of all that has been already this day, choosing to be here, choosing to dwell in this practice for these moments.

As we sit, we are aware of the sensations of the body,

the feelings, even the thoughts that flow by.

But we choose deliberately now to enter the cloud of forgetting, letting go of sensation, letting go of emotion, not grasping the thoughts.

While we cannot stop thoughts or even emotional reactions from arising, we do not have to follow them or hold on to them or grasp them.

We simply notice them in their rising and falling.

We do not feed them with the energy of our attention.

We are simply aware of them

If images arise associated with them, we simply notice and let go.

Gently we draw our attention to the breath, touching in with the breath as an anchor that connects us to the present moment.

The one thing you are doing in each succeeding moment is breathing.

Again, we do not even try and grasp the breath.

We are just aware of the breath.

Not changing it in any way, but simply noticing.

If images, sensations, or thoughts draw our attention to them, we notice, we smile, we forget them, we return to the breath, breathing in and breathing out.

Gently then, we begin to bring forward a versiculum, a little word that can be used as an anchor for the brain.

While different anchors have been used at different times, different phrases have been popular, for now, in this practice, we choose one that is universally acceptable.

We choose the word peace.

Peace.