We will begin with breathing – vigorous breathing followed by the rhythmic breathing. Lighten up, fast and vigorous breathing to lighten up, the energizer, followed by the rhythmic breathing, the harmonizer.

Allow yourself to relax. Now make the breath long and deep, strong enough to keep you centered. Breathe in; breathe out.

This short spell of afternoon meditation sitting is also to give us the opportunity to be able to observe the activities of the morning session before – our work, and so that there is not too long a spell between the morning and the evening sitting. To give you the opportunity to be centered, be conscious, allow yourself to relax, be rejuvenated. You could be tired in the body; you could be tired in the mind. Observe, allow yourself to relax, use the breathing.

You can observe how you have gone about during the morning session, your interaction with work, your interaction with each other.

As you breathe long and deep, it gives you the opportunity to be observing objectively, all that which may have passed before, during the morning. It is an opportunity to appreciate the morning that has gone by, and to understand through an objective observation, – I repeat – your interaction, whatever you may have done with each other, and with your work. It gives you the opportunity to relax and be centered once again, and to remember to be conscious throughout the day.

As you breathe in and breathe out centering yourself, you relax yourself. And then through being centered, consciously centered, you reach into the realms of meditation.

It is all meditation – your observation of the morning session, your objective viewing of the morning session, your interaction with each other – all that you did, all that you did not do – the feelings, the resistances, the emotions that you may have passed through. It brings you to a greater understanding of yourself and of the reality. It is all part of meditation; it is all part of the sitting.

Through the understanding therefore there can be a new approach for the next day. So it is an opportunity for growth, depth and maturity. You can observe your resistances – why so? You can observe your offhandishness, your impatience, even so your arrogance. You can observe the moment of affection, patience, an appreciation of each other, of what you did, of life – of your very existence. Your observation of how conscious you were in your doing of things, your work. The work you volunteered for, the work you were given. The work that is joy, and if you found so. The minute details – even so the resistances that initially might have sprung up – the tiredness. The resistances at different levels, at the body level, at the mental level, at the feeling level. All this is part of meditation, self –observation, and therefore understanding of oneself and the Reality – and therefore opening the door to greater maturity, transformation and growth.

Life is an ongoing meditation, a continuous and a constant development and growth. It requires you to be consciously present and exceed.

So sitting here is also an opportunity for inquiry, self-inquiry. The different situations that you found yourself in – circumstances – during your interaction with what you were doing – your work – people. Seeking – to exceed, seeking to be conscious – to exceed. Seeking to exceed is to be conscious, is to open yourself to self-growth.

Keep to the breathing, it will keep you centered. It will relax you, rejuvenate you. You can feel the tiredness of the body, observe it. You are being with yourself. Through being with yourself you are being with the Reality – the mother of all existences.

Stay with the breathing as you breathe in and breathe out. Find the joy within yourself. Be at peace.

The longer the breath, the better it is. Things will come up, emotions will come up. Feel them as you observe them. You are the experiencer but at the same time you are also the observer of whatever that comes up. Keep to the breathing, the longer the breath the better it is – it will help you to open out even further, will help you to keep yourself centered and conscious, will stabilize you.

Maybe the work in the morning may have agitated you, here is an opportunity through sitting that you stabilize once again, be centered. You can seek for reasons why the agitation – observe, understand. Ultimately to arrive at a self-mastery where there is no agitation but easiness in all situations and circumstances.

Through the breathing you reach into the quietness of your being. And yet it is not in conflict with whatever that may come up in terms of emotions, feelings, resistances. If you were to observe and understand they will make way for you to reach into your depths – so also to understand yourself completely and wholly as to why the feeling, why the emotion, why the resistance, why the tiredness. It will center you, it will bring you to an understanding of the Reality, that which you are. Observe how the tiredness may overtake you, overwhelm you. Observe how the emotions and feelings overtake you, overwhelm you. Observe how thoughts overtake you, overwhelm you and carry you away. It is all part of the meditation, all part of the sitting. An understanding of oneself and consciousness.

The breathing will help you. You are feeling the emotion at the same time you are observing the emotion objectively and the breathing will help you to do that. At the same time it will help you to reach into yourself, the quietness of yourself. When the emotion, the feeling, the thought has passed, it will leave you free.

Breathe in breathe out, fill up completely, empty out completely. Your breath is your greatest friend – after the Guru of course!!!

So sitting is an opportunity for you to find yourself whole and complete once again for during the day as you interact you may scatter yourself. And the breathing will help you.

When you sit you are being with yourself. It is an opportunity to understand yourself – while you reach into the realms of meditation.

Arya Vihar

5 April 2002