So, dear friends, I would love to end the podcast with
this reading of a poem by Thay,
and it's a passage that Thay wrote.
But to enjoy it as a meditation, so I would like to invite all of you, dear listeners,
wherever you may be, sitting on a train, on a bus, in a car,
or you are going for a jog, going for a walk,
or you are cleaning your home,
just to have a moment to pause.
You can stand relaxingly
or you can find a seat on a bench or on your couch.
And just start to connect to yourself,
feeling your body,
feeling alive.
Know that you have
a wonderful smile on your lip.
You can relax your shoulders,
relax your arms, your hands,
wiggle your fingers,
release the tension.
And then bring awareness to your chest.
Your back.
Your abdomen rising and falling
as you breathe in and out.
Your two legs.
Your feet.
And just feel your body.
Be present for your body.
And then become aware of in breath and out breath.
Let's give us a few moments to just breathe mindfully together.
Breathing in,
I'm one with my breath.
Breathing out,
I am one with my out breath.
This is in breath.
And this is out breath.
I asked the leaf whether it was afraid to fall,
since it was autumn and the other leaves were falling.
The leaf told me
"No.
During the whole spring and summer
I was very alive.
I work hard and help nourish the tree.
And much of me is in the tree.
Please do not think that I am just this form,
because this leaf form is only a tiny part of me.
I am the whole tree.
I know that I am already inside the tree.
And when I go back to the soil,
I will continue to nourish the tree.
That is why I do not worry.
As I drop from the branch and float down to the ground,
I will wave to the tree and tower.
I will see you again very soon."
As I breathe in,
I feel one with myself,
one with my loved ones.
As I breathe out,
I continue them
in every action,
every breath,
every step.
In,
I am a continuation.
Out,
I smile to continuation.