Guided Meditation - The Moon
A guided meditation in the spirit and traditional format of Plum Village.
If this is your first time experiencing one of my guided meditations, consider first visiting A Guide to the Guideds, which offers brief background and a few simple suggestions.
Photo by David W. Levin; 2024
An audio version of this guided meditation may be found below.
One day, when you face this beast alone with your courage intact, your eyes kind,
untroubled (even as no one sees them), out of your smile will bloom a flower.
And those who love you will behold you across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.
Alone again, I will go on with bent head, knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road the sun and moon will continue to shine.
Thich Nhat Hanh, from his poem, “Recommendation”
Breathing in, I feel myself settling comfortably here and now
Breathing out, I am exactly as the universe wants me – both still and in motion, like the moon, stable and moving across the sky
Here and now…stable and in motion (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I recall a discomfort experienced in my body, mind, or spirit
Breathing out, I take refuge in the healing presence of the moon, illuminating in the sky
Recalling discomfort…healing (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I hold tenderly a challenging habit energy
Breathing out, my holding transforms into an embrace as I remember the loving presence of the moon, solidly in the sky
Holding habit energies … tender embrace (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I drink from the limitless flow of the energy of compassion
Breathing out, I allow that energy to enter me, as I feel held by the moon, itself held in the sky
Energy of Compassion … entering me (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I drink again from the limitless flow of the energy of compassion
Breathing out, I direct that energy to pass through me to all beings, as the moon reflects perfectly, without judgement, in the sky.
Energy of Compassion… through me to others (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I bring to mind a tendency to ride up and down on the surface of daily life
Breathing out, I descend well below the tides, midpoints between the unshakeable me and the moon, free of turbulence, in the sky
Riding waves…descending into the unshakeable (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I reverently think of the beings and conditions that led to my awareness
Breathing out, I am comforted at how my continuations are witnessed by the moon, unborn/undying in the sky
Reflecting with reverence… no birth/no death (invite the bell)
Breathing in, countless cells are dying and being born in my body
Breathing out, I am a new me, seen in wholeness by a new moon, rising in the sky
Countless cells dying and born…new me (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I feel the teaching of interbeing with every molecule of oxygen that enters me
Breathing out, I feel at one with all beings, sharing the freely-given moon available to all in the sky
Feeling interbeing…feeling at one (invite the bell)
Breathing in, I am aware of moments in which I feel constraints on my freedom
Breathing out, I re-awaken to my innate, complete freedom, as demonstrated by the present, floating moon in the sky
Moments of constraint…re-awakening in freedom (invite the bell)
Our reading is a poem that Thay published in the September 2005 edition of Mindfulness Bell. It appears not to be one of his creations, but rather a poem that was meaningful to him and he wanted to share with the community. It is called “Full Moon Festival” and was written by Vietnamese Dhyana master Lieu Quan (1670–1742), presented to his teacher in 1708.
What will happen when form collides with emptiness,
and what will happen when perception enters non-perception?
Come here with me, friend.
Let’s watch together.
Do you see the two clowns, life and death
setting up a play on a stage?
Here comes Autumn.
The leaves are ripe.
Let the leaves fly.
A festival of colors, yellow, red.
The branches have held on to the leaves
during Spring and Summer.
This morning they let them go.
Flags and lanterns are displayed.
Everyone is here at the Full Moon Festival.
Friend, what are you waiting for?
The bright moon shines above us.
There are no clouds tonight.
Why bother to ask about lamps and fire?
Why talk about cooking dinner?
Who is searching and who is finding?
Let us just enjoy the moon, all night.