Transcription
[0:00, guided exercise begins]
Feeling rooted in the moment, in the body, in the earth.
And then from that sense of contact, that sense of connection with ground, with earth, as usual, opening up the space of awareness to fill out with that bright sensitivity, that delicacy of attention, to the whole of the energy body experience, whatever that is right now.
Just noticing what's happening in the energy body experience, whatever it is. Doesn't need to be this way or that way, dramatic or remarkable or unremarkable.
Filled out with presence, pervaded by bright sensitivity and awareness, alive.
And when you feel ready, you can keep your eyes closed if you want. You can open your eyes and look at your fellows in the group if you like, or a bit of both. And just spend a little time wishing them well, including yourself in that. You're wishing the other, "Be well," wishing all of you well. "Be well," directing mettā to your companions. You may know them, some of them very well, or just a little bit, or not at all. "May you be well. May you be happy. May you be peaceful. May you be at ease." Wishing them well-being, health.
And it's really fine to make eye contact or not, to look at them, and get a sense of being in mettā-ful relationship there.
And as you keep intending loving-kindness towards the members of your little group, as you keep wishing well and emanating mettā towards them, if it hasn't dawned on you already, if you're not already aware of it, recognize that, at this moment, while you are giving mettā, you're also a recipient of mettā from your fellows in the group. You're giving and receiving. Again, you can make eye contact, or you can just look, or you could sense, somehow, the presence of the other/others. And as they're wishing you well, looking upon you with kindness -- at least the aspiration, the intention towards unconditional acceptance and goodwill -- you sense yourself both giving and receiving.
Then, gently, when you're ready, letting the mettā go, the awareness of the mettā, the intention of the mettā, and just being in your experience, in your energy body experience, with a sense of the others and the togetherness there, connection there.
[5:14, break in exercise for instructions]
Okay. This exercise has three stages. And I'll explain, at some point, later on, why we're even doing this, in case it's not obvious. So again, I have to explain a little bit of the choreography. You stay still -- well, actually, you may not. What we're going to do is, Catherine will, when we start, she'll ring the bell, and then ring it at every minute interval for eight minutes. So there'll be eight rings of the bell, starting at zero and one minute and two minutes, etc.
And what you're going to do in that minute, you go around the circle. You can decide who starts. And all you have to do is, the person whose go it is for that minute checks inside, feels inside, and the question is: "What's happening in the energy body right now, right now in this moment?" You can express that. You're sharing it with the others in your little group. You can express very briefly, in a few words. Most of your time could be spent just feeling inside, and trying to connect, and kind of developing that sensitivity. And then maybe you express it in words. And maybe at first, "Well, I don't know, actually. I'm not sure." Well, that's part of the experience. "I don't know what's happening." It's fine. Or maybe I look and I say maybe something like 'agitated,' 'fluttering,' or 'fizzy.' Or I might look inside, and then I look, and I look, and I get a sense, and then maybe 'warm,' or 'soft,' or 'velvety.' So it could be really anything. It's not like it should be like this or like that. One's just expressing it. Or, "There's a contraction in the solar plexus area, or the throat area." It's fine. That's what's going on in the energy body right then. So you can express it in simple, kind of descriptive words like that. You could have quite a lot of words, or very few words. But you have a minute to do it.
You can also express it, if you want, in a more soul-sense, or imagistic, or poetic language. Or maybe, "There's a spiralling of golden light. My body is a spiralling of golden light." Or, "My body is an endless spiral staircase," or you know, whatever. So you can express it in sort of very simple, descriptive conventional language. You can express it poetically if you want. You can express it with your voice, but not with words. How would I express what's going on in the energy body? Giving voice, but it could be a grunt, a moan, a sigh, a roar.
Yogi: Can you give us a demo? [laughter]
Rob: No, I've got a sore throat. [laughter] And last option is, you can express it in movement -- nothing to do with your voice. Okay? So in the eight minutes, basically what's going to happen is we're going to go around twice. Each person has a minute. And remember, some portion of that minute could just be checking inside, and just tuning, and seeing what's there, and then expressing it in some way. It doesn't have to be verbal, and it doesn't have to be rational verbal, if it's verbal. You understand?
Okay. And I might just throw little words in as we're doing this, just to help and support, hopefully. So the others, when it's your turn, the others' job is just to witness, and to notice what happens for you. It's too many instructions now! But the person who's speaking is sharing their experience. And the others are silently witnessing, but with their energy body, with their sensitivity, with their heartfulness, and with that kind of possibility of soulfulness. So eyes open, yes. You want to take in the other person with your senses. At least we're opening the door for the possibility of sensing with soul in every way.
Yogi: Can the person who's feeling them keep their eyes closed?
Rob: Yeah, you may want to experiment with different ways. Yes, okay, for now, yeah. There are endless varieties and possibilities. We have quite limited time. But you can. And so the people listening or witnessing, when it's your turn, you're also kind of seeing: how does this resonate? This person has just expressed this, whatever it is, and how does my energy body resonate with that? Or what do I notice in my experience, in my energy body, in my emotions, in my sense of myself, or sense of them, sense of the world? You understand? But you don't share that. It's just one person sharing. Is this clear? [affirmative noises from yogis] Yes?
Okay. Oh, one last thing: so what is the intention? We're not trying to impress each other. We're not trying to entertain each other. We're not trying to 'get it right.' We're not trying to kind of just make sure that we don't make a fool of ourselves. [laughter] I mean, all these are very normal human intentions, at least in our culture. So that may well come up. But it's more like, can I just let go of it? This is an exercise for the possibility, towards the possibility of soul-relationship. It's very much the beginnings, the preliminaries, of opening and setting the supports for that kind of thing. You might notice, "I just want to say something so I don't look like an idiot," or something. And see if you can just, "It's just an exercise." So it might arise, but see if, "Can I just let that ...", okay? I've talked for a bit, so why don't we just take another moment to settle?
[12:24, guided exercise restarts]
(1) Again, grounding, connecting. Whole energy body. It changes -- energy body changes, moods, moment to moment. And then just touch again in on this mettā, giving and receiving mettā to your fellows. You're the recipient of goodwill, that connection through mettā. Then just letting that gently go. Back to your energy body. And is there a way of deciding amongst yourselves who's going to start? And then, someone just volunteer in the group to start. From there, we'll go round clockwise from the top, as if you're looking down. [laughter] Okay? So Catherine will ring the bell to start, and also on every minute, and then it starts a second round. Okey-doke? Is that clear enough? Yeah? Okay.
[bell rings]
Take the time that you need in the whole minute, and the others are witnessing, taking you in, receiving you, sensitive to you.
[bell rings]
Just whatever is there is fine. It's just what's there in this moment.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
Catherine: The second round.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
Rob: Take your time, no rush. Remember, if you're witnessing, if you're hearing, all your senses, and also noticing what's happening in your energy body in the process of listening, of receiving, sensing.
[bell rings]
Okay. That was stage what? [laughter] Stage two?
Yogi: [inaudible] [laughter]
Rob: There will be by tomorrow morning. [laughter] It was three.
(2) So this is stage two of three. So same choreography: round in two circles, with the one minute, as we just did. This time, what you're sharing, what you're expressing in some way or another -- remember, it could be just descriptive, adjectives or words, could be a poetic phrase, could be movement or a gesture, could be a sounding that's non-verbal. But what you're expressing is: what's happening emotionally right now?
Obviously connected to the energy body, but it's a bit more -- another level. What's happening in the moment? Again, you can take your time. You can express in these different ways. And the others who are witnessing, experiment with, at times, looking at the person who's sharing, who's expressing. And you're really taking them in, and seeing what happens in all your senses with them. Sometimes you can just have your eyes open, and just have the sense of their presence. And sometimes you can really engage all your senses with the person who's sharing. Yeah?
Okay, so again, take a little time just to settle.
Can we move through the stages quite fluidly now? There's the grounding, that anchoring, and the posture, and the rootedness. There's the whole energy body. And there's the sense of connection and kindness and well-wishing and goodwill, both giving and receiving to your fellows in your group, just touching in to that mettā field, that mettā intention, just for a few moments, and then just gently letting that go. And then we'll begin when Catherine rings the bell.
[25:38, bell rings]
Some of it can be silent time.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
Can be simple, conventional language, poetic language, or imagery, gesture, movement.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
If it's not too much, as you're speaking, as you're sharing, as you're checking in, about to express, if it's not too much, who is listening? Who might it be? What angels are these, witnessing me, receiving my expression? Who is listening to me? Can I play with the idea that these are angels listening to me? Angels witnessing what I'm sharing? If it's not too much.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
(3) Third stage. [laughter] I'm aware of time as well. And also, let's make this stage optional. In other words, let's try this: I'll describe what it involves, but maybe not everyone feels like being the person sharing. So it might be that, in every group, there are just two people who want to go, and the rest can witness. Might be everyone's into it, in which case we'll have to see what we do with time. Same thing. We're going to take it in turns. Some person, again, speaks in descriptive words or in poetic words or imagistic words, or moves their body with posture, with gesture, or sounds, vocalizes, to express, to share, in whatever way feels like it's called for, something that is or has been soulmaking for you, that has touched your soul and spoken to your soul.
So it might be you're sharing an image. It might be the very sense of what's happening right now, sitting in this little group, and perceiving the others as angels. It might be anything whatsoever. It might be the sense of what's coming through itself. It might be something that happened before the retreat. It might be something from earlier in the day. Something that feels like it's spoken to your soul, or moves through your soul in a soulmaking way. And if we're still not sure what that means, then just something that has filled you with a kind of resonance, beauty, and all that stuff. Does that sound okay?
So there might be a constriction of time. We can be flexible. But it also might be that, "I'm not quite ready to do that." We could start with -- maybe there are two volunteers in each group. And the same thing: the others will witness and listen, take in with their senses and the possibility of sensing with soul the other, in their witnessing, in their hearing, in their regarding. And the person has five minutes -- and again, a lot of it could be quiet -- to share. And everyone tracks in themselves: "What's the experience when this person's sharing, and I witness them, and I sense them with soul? What happens in my energy body? What happens in my heart, my emotions? What happens with my sense of me, my sense of them, my sense of this, and my sense of all of this?" So basically noticing what happens when I'm speaking, when I share, and when I witness. It's just the same thing, taken to a slightly richer or more involved level.
Let's do this: three minutes each, and we'll do all four. We'll go round again. But this time, instead of ringing the bell after one minute, Catherine will ring it every three minutes. And that's the next person. Okay. Let's, again, just do the same -- it can be very quick when it goes quite fluid.
[39:05] Just rooting, sensing the contact, sensing your sitting, your body sitting, sensing the connection with the earth. Opening up the whole energy body. Just noticing what's present in the energy body right now, what's present in the emotions right now. Connecting again to that intention of well-wishing, the emanating of kindness to your fellows. Aware that in this moment, you are a recipient of mettā, of kindness, giving and receiving. Touching into that as a foundation.
Gently letting it go. Energy body experience, presence, sensitivity, as much as possible. And then, again, when Catherine rings the bell, three minutes.
So you can volunteer who starts, go in the same order, or as you ...
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
So let's just pause now, and before we go on to the next person, just take your time, take a little time. How does it feel to have shared that and expressed whatever it was? What effect does that have on your energy body, and your heart, and your emotions, in your sense of things, of these others, of yourself? Perhaps it's even possible, if it's not too much of a stretch, to actually be aware of that as one is sharing. So I'm not just explaining or recounting something that happened. If it's possible, I'm actually noticing the effect of sharing and expressing as it's happening, if that's possible. Again, if it's not too much: who is this? Who is with us? Who's listening to me with so much interest, so much delight, so much celebration? Who is that?
Check inside what the experience is, to share. It doesn't need to be anything [inaudible]. Passes through: emotion, energy body, sensing. It's a kind of multidimensional possibility, multidimensional sense of things. Multidirectional, multidimensional. Just gently expanding into that [inaudible]. Okay, so the next person starts.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
Okay, again, pausing, coming into a little bit of silence together, noticing what moves in the being, in the energy body, the heart. Sense, image of yourself, sense and image of others, effect of speaking or listening. What are the effects of speaking or listening? Listening, sensing.
So, next person: take your time. It's fine to have a lot of words. It's also fine to have a few, and to notice and monitor the effect of speaking. You could play with it different ways.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
So again, taking just a few moments to notice the echoes and reverberations in the being, in the body, in the heart, in perceptions, in the sense of self, other. Doesn't have to be anything, just noticing. Everything is a dependent arising. Everything has an effect, effects. Just noticing.
[bell rings]
[bell rings]
[57:35, guided exercise ends]
Again, before we do anything else, just taking those few moments to pick up on the after-echo, the resonances and reverberations in your being, of having expressed, having shared, or having witnessed, heard, sensed. And in this part, you may want to open your eyes. It's both the self and the other and world. Notice anything. Or might be something difficult in the noticing. Whatever it is, it's completely fine, totally fine. Doesn't have to be this way or that way. But it's interesting. Whatever is the experience, whatever is the sense. If you're ready, again, just come back to that foundation of intention for kindness to the others in your group, wishing them well, wishing them ease, unconditional goodwill. Right now, you're the recipient of that, as well as a giver.
Catherine will -- we're going to sing that chant again together. Feel free to harmonize or whatever. It's Pali. It means, "May all beings be happy." So, it's a mettā chant. It's blessing, a blessing with the sound, blessing with the words and intention. It's just for a couple of minutes, to your group, to all the beings in this room, to all beings everywhere.
Catherine: Sabbe...
Everyone: ... sattā sukhitā hontu. Sabbe sattā sukhitā hontu. Sabbe sattā sukhitā hontu. Sabbe sattā sukhitā hontu. [chant continues for several minutes]
Rob: [?] to bow to the earth, bows, gratitude.
