06) Opposition Toward Life, A Sweet Surrender - Meditate Now
Audio Version - Guided Meditation
Written Transcript of the guided meditation
Before we begin here, I want to invite us to recognize that part of ourselves, which is in opposition to the truth, or in opposition to the way of things.
To illustrate very simply, it's like being in the wintertime and wanting it to be summer. In that wanting, there's an opposition against the winter, that effectively withholds love, that casts judgment, that sees the winter as undeserving to be what it is.
Just recognize that aspect of yourself that is in opposition to the way of things, we could also say the truth of life. But we all have that, we all have this aspect of ourselves that wants what we want, over what is.
It's very common for that aspect of ourselves to be violent in some way, this violence that withholds love from what is. In the same way, we can do this with the winter, we can do it with other people, we can do it with ourselves, where we can be as we are, but effectively withhold love from what we are, because we are not how we want ourselves to be. So we can be in opposition to the truth of what we are.
Just notice this character in your experience, there's no judgment for that character right now, we're just bringing awareness to it.
This guided journey will invite us to surrender that fight, maybe just a little bit. In that surrender, we can see ourselves, see others, and see life with more clarity, and with that clarity, there will be a natural blooming of more love.
Start of Guided Meditation
Recognize and Acknowledge
To start off here, we're just going to recognize and acknowledge that we're here right now.
We're going to quickly just connect with the breath, connect with this space, connect with the presence of right now. We'll just very naturally and effortlessly breathe.
We can let these breaths be a little bit deeper, but nothing too extreme. We can allow it to be natural.
As we put our awareness on the breath, we can just allow it to bring us more and more into the present moment.
I like to see this as breathing into right now, whatever relaxation we can start to notice, we can invite that relaxation into all parts of our body.
In this relaxation, I invite us to recognize any tension in our human experience. This can be frustration, irritation, sadness, anxiety. We're just going to bring awareness to it. We can acknowledge that it's there. I invite us to recognize this opposition in that tension.
We can recognize how that opposition is almost like a fight against life.
Again, it's not wrong, and it's not bad. We're just going to recognize it.
Whatever opposition or tension is most loud for you right now in your life, let's just sort of invite it into this space, almost like you were going to sit down and have a cup of tea with it.
It's a beautiful thing to invite this opposition into a space like this. It's like there's no opposition for the opposition, there's no tension about the tension, there's no problem with the problem. We can just acknowledge it and allow it to be.
What I invite us to recognize about this opposition, this fight is, underneath it, is this innocent fear. Just notice that. There's a part of yourself that's just scared.
Acknowledge a Deeper Sincerity
We're just holding space for that right now, to see it, to allow it to be there and acknowledge a deeper sincerity.
Most commonly when we have tension, agitation, or some flavor of opposition, there's a projection that thinks the real problem is out there— The real problem is what we are seeing, or experiencing.
But I invite us to recognize a deeper sincerity that touches that fear, that really, “I'm scared.”
We can acknowledge that in such a fearful space, there's a violence that emerges, violence that fights for what we want.
In that fight, there's a withholding of love. In the same way that if there's an opposition towards yourself where you think you're not enough, where you think you are missing something, there's a fear that you might not be lovable in the future.
There's a fear maybe that tomorrow won't work out how you want it to work out so that you can hold onto this love, or there's the fear that in some way tomorrow you won't be enough, or there's the idea that somehow you can become more worthy or more lovable tomorrow.
I find that so interesting, just notice that for a second how we can project this future where we can be more lovable, "If only this..., and if only that..."
In this projection, we become afraid of not capturing that in the future. And in that fear, we start blaming everything that's seemingly in the way.
We can say, "If only this was different; if only that was different”, “if only those people weren't who they were; if only I wasn't who I am."
Rest in that Space, Breathe Into It
I invite us to recognize, how in this fearful space we are not seeing things clearly — we are not seeing things as they really are.
We're looking through the lens of fear.
We're just bringing awareness to that, to see how the fear distorts our view.
As we become more and more present, as we see more and more clearly, we start to see that maybe this opposition isn't necessary.
So we invite a sweet surrender. "If only a little bit, maybe I can just be here right now, maybe I am enough as I am, maybe I don't need to withhold love."
I invite you to just rest in that space, breathe into it.
You see, my friend, it's just an innocent misunderstanding. It's an innocent misunderstanding that's not seen clearly. In that misunderstanding, fear shows itself.
That's okay. We get scared. We're swimming in a big miracle and sometimes it gets confusing.
So be gentle on yourself — be gentle on others. We all get scared.
At this moment, we can honor a deeper truth about what is.
We can surrender our fight that fights for what we only think we want. And come home to the miracle we've already been given.
We can see ourselves, others, and all of life with brand new eyes. We can say thank you, thank you, thank you for being what you already are.
Thanks for joining me today.
