A Steady Foundation

Close your eyes and stay with your breath.

Things come in, things go out, but you want to stay with the breath. Sounds come in, thoughts go out: You want to stay with the breath.

Make this your grounding, your foundation. If you go through life without a foundation, it’s like trying to juggle on an unsteady stage. The stage is moving around all the time unpredictable, which makes it hard to keep all the balls in the air. But if you’re standing on something steady, then no matter how many responsibilities you have, you can juggle them. Because you’re coming from a good solid place.

So try to develop this sense of a solid foundation with the breath. You don’t leave it for anything. Anything comes in, let it come in. You don’t have to go out after it. And as it comes in, you can decide whether it’s something worth dealing with or not. If it’s not, just drop it. Let it go.

As for things that come up in the mind, it’s the same sort of thing. If it’s something you really have to do, if it’s a duty that’s going to lead to something good, you can think about it and then you go ahead and do it. But try not to leave the foundation.

Wherever you go, there’s the breath. So keep in touch with the breath all the time as your grounding. Because it’s even firmer than the earth beneath you. California has earthquakes, but you want your breath or your attention to the breath to be steadier than that, so that whatever comes up, you’re not knocked over. You’re coming from a good solid place so that whatever you do or say and think has the good foundation.