All That Arises | September 27, 2026

And I think historically, as we go into the fall and winter months, it's a time of going inward.

It's a time of introspection.

And so I wanted to lead a guided practice today that is certainly not novel to any of you.

But I want to just explore this idea of staying with what arises or witnessing what arises.

I'm going to use this imagery in our meditation.

And again, it's certainly something you're familiar with.

But I was standing this morning by Lake Michigan and the lake was calm, but it's also sort of like undulating and moving.

And there weren't necessarily specific waves in the sort of cresting manner that you might imagine.

But there are these waves.

rising and falling moments within the water that you can sit and you can witness and it's the perfect imagery for what it is that we can seek to do through mindfulness through meditation through contemplation learning to witness the rising and the falling of the wave the wave of experience and sometimes that feels quite pleasant and other times it feels quite tricky to navigate but as many of you know through years of practice or if you've even come to it more recently the ability the capacity to just sit and watch and witness and observe and stay with um it really is an asset in pursuing a life that feels um I don't know, like we have some sort of agency because imagine being jostled about with the surprise of all of the waves coming your way all the time.

That's how many of us have lived at certain points in our lives and we witness others.

But when you have the capacity to witness that which arises and that which falls away.

And you start to witness it in a way that allows you choice and agency.

There's a real beauty and how it is that you're able to navigate your life with what I believe is more skillfulness and hopefully more ease ultimately.

So with that in mind, let's sit for a bit and let's just use this as an opportunity to practice whatever it is that we're coming into our gathering with today and see what arises while we're here together.