Training in Compassion 5: Rest in Openness of Mind

Rest in the openness of mind. There's no need to figure everything out. We can just be alive. We can breathe in and breathe out and let go and just trust our life, trust our body. Our body and our life know what to do. Let them.

Of course, life is complicated and we have many things to work out in our material and psychological lives. But also we can find a place of refuge sometimes. We can just return right now to ourselves -- to our actual concrete presence, in the body, in the breath, in the mind and heart.

If we had the confidence that this were possible at any moment, then we would feel much more at ease with our lives and it would be easier and happier to take care of all our complicated problems. We could do it without anxiety or stress. We would trust our life.

Rest in the openness of mind. Getting used to this phrase and its meaning, it can be an inspiration for you. Ability to bring it up at any time during the day, is a powerful advantage.

Maybe the easiest way to rest in the openness of mind is: just stop and take a breath. One breath, maybe two or three. You could do this now. Take a breath and return to the openness of mind. Breathing in, breathing out, and in the feeling of the breath noticing whatever is there and letting go of it, easily, gently.

If you are bored, or disturbing things are going on, it is still possible in this precise moment to notice breathing, notice the body, notice the feeling of being present in this moment. This will relax you. This is what it feels like to rest in the openness of mind.

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For more detail about this spiritual practice, see this longer version here.