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

Please visit our website at audioderma.org. Hello everyone and welcome.

One of the ways that practice and even enlightenment is talked about in the ancient texts is that

is through the language of touch.

We touch awakening with our body.

And there's something that's very special about human touch.

It can express many things, of course,

hostility, a certain kind of way of touching others but there's a way of

touching that is friendly reassuring gently touching someone on their shoulder to say, I'm here with you.

We might hold someone's hand, touch as I did when my mother was dying I was holding her hand.

The newborn baby, babies thrive with touch and are reassured.

And so this is the possibility of expressing friendliness, kindness, love is done that can be done through touch.

And and I think of the Greek myth of King Midas,

Midas touch everything he touched

turning to gold.

It's possible through this practice of ours to not hold ourselves removed

from our experience, not to be up in the head the control tower looking down and from a distance kind of analyzing

thinking about our experience it's possible to have awareness, attention, touch everything and as we touch everything

turn everything into, everything into love, everything into compassion, whatever the circumstances call for in the moment, but this idea of coming close to touch with kindness,

maybe the control tower is feeling sad or angry, upset, afraid, distracted. distracted, but when we approach something with attention,

approach our breathing,

approach the sensations of our body.

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