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Welcome Namaste, really delighted to have you with me for this evening's reflection.

And the title is called Being Embodied, the Gateway to Awareness and Spirit.

And this will be a two-part series, so it'll be for tonight and next Wednesday night.

Like to start with a story recounted by Zen Master Ticknothan, and he says this.

He says, a friend took me to the Atlanta Airport.

And when we were saying goodbye she asked, is it all right to hug a Buddhist monk?

Now my country were not used to expressing ourselves that way, but I thought, you know,

I'm a Zen teacher, it shouldn't be a problem for me to do that.

So I said, why not?

And she hugged me, but I was quite stiff.

Well on the plane I decided that if I wanted to work with friends in the West, I would have

to learn the culture of the West.

So he went about creating a hugging meditation.

And according to this practice, you have to really hug the person you're holding.

You know, they're just to have them feel real in your arms and make them feel real.

Not just for the sake of appearances, but really being awake.

So you're not pretending you're there, you're not padding them on the back.

You're actually breathing consciously and feeling them there.

It's the hugging meditation as real mindfulness.

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