A short talk, then a sit, three lines to rest on. Music underneath
Zen does not fix your life. It stops you needing to. A short talk and a sit, for anyone tired of working on themselves.
About 12 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
Somewhere along the line we were told peace is earned, and that once everything is sorted out we can finally rest. I think that is backwards. This one asks you to be the sky that lets every kind of weather through, and to sit with three lines: nothing to do, nowhere to get, nothing missing.
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Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
Anybody who has been managing things. Fixing what is broken, adjusting the story, correcting the past, forecasting the future.
Somewhere along the line we were told peace is earned through effort, and that once it is all sorted out we can finally rest. I think that is backwards.
Zen does not fix your life. It stops you needing to.
What happens in this meditation
The body settles first, and the point is made early. You do not change your breath or relax your body. You allow both, the way you would not try to change a river.
Then a short talk. This is not about fixing your anxiety, numbing your grief, or finding perfect silence. It is about being the sky that lets every kind of weather through.
Then a sit. Thoughts, tension, the temperature on your face, all welcome. When a thought arrives wanting the moment to be different, you say: this moment does not need to be different.
Then one question. Who is aware right now? You do not answer it. You notice the silence after it.
Three lines to rest on. Nothing to do. Nowhere to get. Nothing missing.
How to get the most from it
Twelve minutes, and the first few are talking, so give it a moment.
Do not treat the question as a puzzle. It is not asking for an answer, and hunting for one puts you straight back into the fixing.
Then take the three lines into an ordinary bad afternoon. There is a calm underneath the storm as well, and this is the practice of remembering that.
Questions people ask
Is this saying I should not try to improve anything?
No. It is saying you do not have to be sorted before you are allowed to rest. Improvement from that footing goes rather better anyway.
Nothing missing sounds like denial.
It is not about the circumstances, which may well be genuinely difficult. It is about the layer underneath them, which is quietly complete regardless.
Do I need to know Zen for this?
No. There is one idea in it and I say it in plain words at the start.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
acceptance · zen · self-compassion · mindfulness
Read the transcript
Welcome to a nice little Zen meditation.
The gift of not needing to fix.
So just before I sail down into a little Dharma talk, just allow your body to relax.
Allow your mind to go a little bit quieter.
And just become comfortable in this moment.
You don't have to do anything with your breath.
Just become aware.
You don't have to do anything with your body. It knows how to relax. relax
And you don't have to do anything with this moment. This moment knows how to be this moment.
We often think we need to change our breath or we need to relax our body. Those things can
just happen if we allow them to happen.
Very similar to sitting next to a river. You
don't try to change the river, you just allow the river to be what it is.
So just allow your body to be relaxed in this moment.
Allow your breath to be what it is.
Breathing in calm.
Breathing out relax.
And as we're relaxing in this moment, I want to share something that might sound strange at first.
Zen doesn't fix your life.
It just stops you needing to.
We spend most of our days managing things, fixing what's broken, adjusting the story,
correcting the past or forecasting the future.
Somewhere along the line, we are told that peace is earned through effort.
That once we've fixed it all, then we can rest.
I think Zen turns that completely on its head.
It doesn't give you a better version of yourself.
It shows you there's nothing wrong with the one that's here right now.
Zen asks you to sit. And just sit.
Not to escape pain.
Not to reach some divine bliss,
but to wake up to this.
The breath.
The sound.
The thought that says, this is pointless.
Zen says, be with it anyway.
So this practice is not about fixing your anxiety or numbing your grief or
finding the perfect silence. This
is about being the sky that allows every kind of weather.
Nothing needs to be sorted before you begin. You just begin.
So let's continue to sit together
and As you're breathing in, calm. Breathing out, relax.
You may notice thoughts coming in your head. Just
allow them to be.
You may notice some tension in your body. Just
allow it to be.
You may notice the temperature on your face. Allow
it to be.
And you may notice some thoughts that want to change this moment.
Just gently let them pass.
And you can say silently, this moment doesn't need to be different.
This moment doesn't need to be different.
And we don't even need to focus on our breath.
Just be aware.
Sounds come and go.
Sensations come and go.
Emotions come and go. They
are all welcome here now.
Let it all just come and go like clouds across an open sky.
And now let's just spend a moment turning our attention to the watcher,
the awareness behind the experience. And
just ask, who is aware right now?
You don't need to answer. Just notice the silence that follows the question. Who
is aware right now
You may notice the confusion, the
mix between that pure awareness and
then the
thought, the feeling, the moment, the warmth on your face, the sound, the
breath. It
all comes and goes, not only in the real sense, but also in the awareness of now.
Maybe just rest in the feeling of enoughness. What
does enoughness mean to you?
And just remind yourself.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to get.
Nothing missing.
Nothing to do. Nowhere to get. Nothing missing.
Doesn't that just feel like a whole weight lifted off?
Like, wow.
It's really true that nothing needs fixing. Everything is okay. Below all the
noise.
Below all the confusion.
Just right here now.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to get. And
nothing is missing.
And just a reminder of this moment.
We spend our life reading books. We
spend our life watching Tv and other social media that's all telling us what
to do and how we can improve our lives. If we just do this,
when really all we want is just peace. Just quiet. We just want that ah.
And you have it right now.
This was always here.
Just the noise of life buries it.
And this is what Zen is. Zen is bringing this to every day, to every moment, to that storm.
If you can sit in this, this
moment of just nothing to do, nowhere to get, and nothing is missing.
In the storm there is a calm and a peace as well.
It's just recognising that.
So we're just gonna sit for another minute. I'll keep an eye on the timer.
And just be aware of your breath.
And just be the one that's aware of the breath.
Nothing to do.
Nothing missing.
Although we did not go anywhere, welcome back.
And just generally become aware of your breath.
And just gently open your eyes and wiggle your fingers and toes. And just do a bow inwardly to yourself.
Thank you for showing up. Thank you for being there.
And just remember, Zen doesn't fix your life. It just stops you needing to. And
this peaceful moment is there for you whenever you need it. Whenever you want to go below the noise, just
sit, breathe in calm, breathe out relax and allow the moment to be what it is.
I'm Steven Webb. Thank you for being here and thank you for your support. If you want to listen to
my other podcast, Stillness in the Storms, please go to StevenWebb.uk and you can listen to all my other
podcasts and all the other meditations and different ways you can support me so I can bring out more
podcasts that will help you with difficult times. Take care and thank you.
