Meditation Month 2020: Breathing with All Beings

Welcome back for the fourth and final week of Meditation Month, our annual challenge to sit all 31 days of March with Insight meditation teacher and writer Sebene Selassie.

This week, Sebene leads a guided meditation that incorporates the Buddha’s teachings on all four elements and shows us how these teachings can help us strengthen and broaden our practice on and off the cushion. Focusing first on the element of air, Sebene reminds us of our interconnectedness with all beings. The breath is a very popular object of meditation, and we can use it to tap into the sense of not-self and connect with others.

“We can experience the element of air  as an ephemeral reality that not only sustains us moment-to-moment, but also connects us through time and space to all living creatures.” 

Reflecting on these last four weeks, Sebene invites us to take what we’ve learned about earth, water, fire, and air and use this knowledge to let go and find freedom in any moment. 

Download a copy of this talk. It has been edited for clarity.

Thank you for meditating with more than 10,000 people around the world this month!

If you’re hearing about Meditation Month for the first time, missed a video, or need a refresher, this video series will remain free and available.

More meditation material to support your practice:

• We probably started this month with preconceived notions about how meditation would change our lives. Dharma teacher Stephen Batchelor writes that when we learn to let go of these expectations, we realize that meditation itself is enough.
• Social distancing doesn’t mean we have to practice alone. Zen teacher Koshin Paley Ellison explores our fear of community, and offers instructions in zazen.
• What does Buddhism say about the body? Writer Matthew Gindin asks three teachers from three different Buddhist traditions. 
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See all our Meditation Month offerings here.