Let it be. That is our practice. I don't really need to talk. Let it be. Well, this week begins for many people in the world who are Christian a week, a holy week. Today is Palm Sunday leading up to next Sunday, which is Easter Sunday, the Sunday of new life, resurrection. So just as the Buddha is not simply a teacher only for Buddhists, I also believe that Jesus was not only a teacher for Christians.

These and the other teachers of the world are universal teachers, and Mother Mary is not just for Christians either. She comes in many forms. She has many names. In the Buddhist tradition, we may call her Quan Yin, the mother of compassion. She is that part of each of us which is able to let it be, able to include and embrace anything, able to open the heart of love and light for all beings.

This morning as I sat in meditation for about an hour, I was at my parent's house last night, and I stayed there, and in the morning as I began sitting, about one minute into sitting meditation, I heard the door open because the door where my brother sometimes sleeps is connected to the bathroom, which leads to my room. And I heard footsteps come through, and it was my baby little niece, 3 years old, kind of very sleepy. I guess her father, my brother, did not wake up, so she was just kind of walking into my room. She saw me meditating, and she laid her head down on my lap, and just slept there for 20 minutes. And I didn't move. I just stayed in my meditation and just enjoyed my baby niece just sitting, sleeping here on my lap.

And so I just poured forth metta, lovingkindness meditation, from my heart, just wishing her well, wishing her happiness, enjoying her. I suppose in that moment, I was embodying Quan Yin, Mother Mary. And then after 20 minutes, she just got up and left and walked out the door as if nothing happened, and I continue to meditate for another 20 minutes while I could hear my family doing things. She had left the door open, so I could hear everything in the kitchen. So I decided to just send metta to my family. I just continued my lovingkindness meditation, just sending lovingkindness, wishing them well and happiness.

And then finally, in the last 20 minutes, it was relatively quiet, and I just sat there in that gratitude, in that love, deeply receiving that spacious light. And then 3 minutes before 60 minutes was up, I suddenly had a wonderful insight well up naturally, spontaneously, and I shared some of those insights with the youth group at the Center for Spiritual Living this morning because I was scheduled to help them out this morning with some teaching and practice. And if I have time, I may go over some of that insight with you if it feels right.

But the main thing I wanted to share with you is that the first spiritual law of success according to Deepak Chopra is the law of pure potentiality. What that means is there is that true nature within us and all beings that is the source of everything, that is the source of our wisdom, that is the source of our creativity, that is the source of understanding insight, and that is the source of compassion and love. It is that which is referred to by many as Mother Mary or Quan Yin or deep, universal compassion. It is beyond all names and it is expressed in many names.

When we meditate, we get in touch with beingness, and that is what this law refers to, beingness. It is the ground of being. I remember walking with a friend a few weeks ago just doing walking meditation outside the monastery, and we just shared from our inner center, from our knowingness. My friend calls it that knowing. I kind of like that word, the knowing. I never called it that before, but it is true. It is that which knows. It is the knowing. And so we just channeled words from that center, from that knowing, to each other, and I shared words of wisdom with her, and she shared words of wisdom with me, and it was very beautiful, very wise, very powerful. It truly came from that place of pure potentiality, our true nature, that knowing, that beingness.

Every day we can live our lives from that place of pure potentiality. We do not have to struggle or stress about what is our next step, what should we do, what kind of work? Where should we live, who should we be with? We don't have to stress and struggle about that because there is already that center within us that is the knowing, that is the pure potentiality, that is the beingness, the wisdom, the compassion. Simply let go of that which obstructs you from realizing it. Simply be.

When we sit, we are not struggling and doing. And if you're struggling a lot when you are sitting, perhaps you might look at it a different way. Sitting meditation is not like going to the gym. It is not the same thing. Sitting meditation is about letting go. It is more like going to the bathroom really. It is just letting go, releasing. Where did that come from? It is just a matter of being and getting in touch with that which we already always are. And so as we sit, we just relax. Rest. We release. We let go, and we just are beingness here and now.

And the reason why at first it is a little bit hard is because the part of us that identifies with other things besides beingness. It identifies with thinkingness or making listsness or planningness or past memoryness. But that is okay. But that part of us do what it does. It is like a busy bee or a monkey mind. But in fact, that is not who we are. That is just a part of us that we over identify with.

But as we continue to practice our daily meditation and formal sitting as well as by our daily living in mindfulness throughout the day, what happens is that we start to identify with that busy bee or that monkey mind, and we start to realize even though that busy bee is still flying around or that monkey mind is still jumping from tree to tree, yet there is another reality that has been there the whole time. The whole time, I am breathing. Oh. I've been breathing the whole time. Oh, there's this body living this whole time, and there is this inner knowing the whole time.

There is this inner awareness the whole time. It is not like you were the monkey mind and now you are the Buddha mind or whatever. No. That spacious quality of beingness and awareness was there the whole time, just like your breathing was there the whole time simultaneous with these thoughts and ideas and whatever. But our practice helps us not to get rid of all of that, but to do is identify with it and re-identify with our pure potentiality, our pure beingness. And as we do that, naturally the thinking and the busy bee mind starts to slow down and starts to focus and cooperate. Instead of being our enemy, it is our friend. We never eradicate that part of our mind. We simply show who is the boss. The inner knowing is the true master, and when it serves that, then ego, personality, whatever, it is no longer a problem. It now is a channel of expression for that Buddha nature in the world.

Well, I think I'm going to end my talk short. There were 3 things that I thought I might share, but it is not necessarily necessary. I was going to share some insights that had come to me recently from the actual practice of just letting be. But you know, I think it is not necessary to share that at this time. I can share that next week. But I will just mention that some of the insights were how the Buddha's teachings and Jesus's teachings and New Thought teachings, there is a correspondence. There is a harmony.

I also had an insight about eight qualities for a balanced life and a balanced spiritual community. And these things are not things I had to think about and research really hard. I was just sitting in meditation minding my own business and boom, there it is, the knowing, like a little seed that was in there all along just simply sprouting out of the ground into my consciousness. And that is how it can be for us. So my talk really is don't worry, be happy. And don't struggle. Let it be.

I will close with a poem that came to me after a seven-day retreat. Hopefully I will remember all the words. That will just be our one example of how music or song or insights can just arise naturally out of pure potentiality. By the way, everyone should have one of these copies of the seven spiritual laws, and you can go in more depth if you do look at the book. And in that chapter, Deepak Chopra does recommend what we always recommend this practice, which is taking time to have silence during the week, taking time to meditate every day. He recommends half an hour in the morning and half an hour at night, but whatever you do, just do it regularly, even if it is shorter or longer, and go out in nature. Be with nature. Be in nature. Be nature. And practice non-judging mind. Let it be. Just let it be.

So, let us take a deep breath together, closing our eyes. Turn around and look within. Can you see the sound of silence? Can you hear the flowers smiling? Can you taste the setting sun? Do you know that I am the one? Do you know the one is you? No separation, no birth, no death. Only this moment, only this breath. No self to suffer, no gain, no loss. All is perfection, even the dross. Do you know that I'm the one? Do you know the one is you?

Namaste.