10) What's Really Happening? - Meditate Now
Audio Version - Guided Meditation
Written Transcript of the guided meditation
The title of this meditation is called “What's Really Happening?”
I love this question. It's a question that invites me into stillness to discern the difference between what I imagine is happening and what's actually happening.
Another reason this question is so important is because, if we look at the human dilemma, the difficulties we have, we can trace it back to believing the mind's content rather than focusing on the present moment, the situation at hand.
Because so often when we encounter a problem, we can assume that that problem is in life. We can assume that that problem is actually happening.
But the more we investigate it, we start to realize that the problem is thinking about a problem.
What’s Really Happening vs What We Imagine to be Happening
It's important to realize this. To recognize that, "okay, the struggle that I'm having — I'm not actually struggling with something in life. I'm struggling with the thoughts that I'm having.”
Like, for example, if you're excited about hanging out with someone and they cancel plans and say, "Actually, I can't hang out with you." Do you see how there’s what's actually happening, and then there's what the mind thinks is happening?
Someone saying, "I can't hang out with you" or "I don't want to hang out with you" is nothing. Then the mind puts meaning to it.
The mind says, "oh, well, what's wrong with me?" We can find ourselves going down a dark path of self-rejection, confusion about who we are, what's wrong with us, based on something that's not actually happening.
Like I'm thinking about the fact that I just got rejected, not realizing that your fact isn't a fact at all.
Your fact is an interpretation.
You imagine rejection, and so you're thinking about your imaginary rejection.
When somebody says they don't want to hang out with you, that doesn't have anything to do with you.
In the same way that if somebody says, "I don't want to eat chocolate ice cream", it's not about the ice cream. So silly it would be for chocolate to say, "well, maybe I should change to vanilla."
That completely misses the point. Chocolate ice cream is supposed to be chocolate ice cream — be chocolate ice cream.
Do you see what I mean? Here's what's happening, and then there's what we imagine to be happening.
Recognize the Stillness
As the doorway, we're just going to be still and recognize that we're present.
Here we are right now.
I invite you to just ground a little bit.
Bring your awareness here, with me, right now.
We can notice that the mind can go from here to there, and that's fine.
We're just going to consciously bring our awareness into this space right now and give ourselves permission to just be here.
In this space, we're going to take a few seconds and just allow for three naturally big breaths.
So just breathe...
I invite us to recognize the stillness at this moment.
There is a stillness that is constant, even amidst commotion or noise.
Behind it, all is a stillness that is untouched by anything that rises or falls.
Just recognize that stillness.
Even if there's commotion, even if there are sounds, even if there are thoughts, even if there are sensations — recognize the stillness.
As we breathe into this space, we're going to ask the question, "What's really happening?"
But we're not going to ask it from the mind.
We're going to feel into it.
This question is an invitation to open up to what is real, what is here, what is now.
We can recognize that the mind cannot actually see what is really happening.
The mind can only see its content, its imagination.
So we gently set the mind aside for right now.
We feel into the reality of this moment.
What’s Really Happening?
As we rest in this space, let's recognize the vast openness.
It's an openness where we recognize that everything that we think is happening isn't happening.
All the meanings that we create, all the things that we fear — none of that's actually here in this moment. It's in the imagination.
This is a gift that we get to extend to ourselves.
The invitation to come home into the real.
We're just resting here.
It's like, we are allowing what we are to recharge, to connect, to remember.
Just breathe.
in this space, we can recognize compassion for the mind.
As it's easy for the mind to get lost in its imagination, thinking that this is happening, thinking that that is happening, and it seems real, but we can see that it's not.
What's really happening? There's no judgment, there's no expectation, there's no demand, there's nothing in this moment that says you're not free.
So be free. Right now.
Allow that freedom to breathe through you.
Thanks for meditating with me today.
Until next time. Cheers.
