The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

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Hello and welcome to this meditation session.

And as an introduction to the meditation, I will mention that occasionally in the world that I travel in,

the concept of power is often seen negatively, and partly because power is used into personal relationships in society in ways that are quite painful and harmful.

And if you go back and look at the meditation teachings of the Buddha, he has a lot of references to power that are power within oneself.

Some of the faculties we have for doing meditation practice, meditation develops into power, there is a power strength that carries them with which they carry us, they support us.

There is the power of confidence, the power of effort, the power of mindfulness, the power of samadhi, and the power of wisdom.

And none of these are being referred to in relationship to power over anyone else, and maybe not even power over oneself, but they are strengths that develop and that from the Buddhist perspective we don't need to be afraid of.

The here to support what's really best in us, the power of wisdom is clearly related to the power to recognize and act on what is beneficial for us and to avoid what is harmful for us as we meditate.

So this can get very quickly a complicated idea at the discussion, but for this meditation I would like to see if I can support you to meditate where there is some underlying sense of power in this body and mind strength that is an aid keeping us grounded.

Keeping us centered here and now, keeping us gently but firmly rooted here in this practice, in this time and place, not with strain, not with striving, not with expectation, but almost like a delightful, appreciated sense of being rooted.

In the practice, so assuming a meditation posture that is right for you, a posture that maybe is adjusted, maybe small adjustments,

so that it expresses a confidence, a kind of power that we have, almost like gathering ourselves together, preparing ourselves, maybe for a physical activity we have to do.

In the video we have to do, it requires all the strength that we can muster. We might take a deep breath, we might take a good stance, we might focus, and kind of bring together a whole body.

So a meditation posture that gathers together and gently closing your eyes and to find a place within,

that you associate, whether it is present now or not, you associate with a location for gathering power, strength, a definitive feeling of being, yes, here.

No question about it, gathering together to be rooted here for an important activity.

Is there a place where you gather, where you center, and from that place, to take some long, slow deep breaths, as if your breathing begins there and spreads from there as you breathe in,

and returning there as you exhale.

Relaxing as you exhale, almost as if you are relaxing around, in your sense of strength.

There are many complications around the edges of it, fall away.

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