Mantra “I am the path and the light”

A Warm Dharma Flow Class by David Scott Yglesias

Opening Message – When Light Finds Light

Close your eyes.
Feel the breath arrive like the first flicker of dawn.

Somewhere, unseen, another heart is breathing with you,
another light waiting to be met.

We don’t have to search far.
When we soften, when we listen,
light always finds light.

Let tonight’s practice be a quiet remembering,
not of what is next, but of what is already here.
A pulse, a presence,
a shared glow between us.

Topic 1 – The Deep Asking

Reflection:
Every deep asking stirs something ancient within us.
When we finally get quiet enough to ask sincerely, the universe responds, not always in words, but in sensation, intuition, or subtle knowing.
Each breath can become a question: Am I awake?
And each exhale, the answer: Yes, right here.

Let the breath do the asking tonight,
and trust that life will always answer in its own time, its own way.

Metaphor:
Imagine standing before a canyon at night, calling out, uncertain if anyone can hear. For a moment, there is silence, then an echo returns, carrying your own voice back to you, yet deeper and wiser.
That is what the universe sounds like when it answers.

Quotes:

“With any deep asking, comes deep answering.” – Unknown

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find.” – Matthew 7:7

“What you seek is seeking you.” – Rumi

Topic 2 – The Repairable Heart

Reflection:
We often confuse being damaged with being broken.
But what is damaged can be mended, what is broken can be made whole again.
Healing does not erase what happened, it integrates it, turning pain into wisdom and cracks into gold.

As you move tonight, let the breath pour gently into the places that have been holding too tightly.
Let awareness stitch light into the fabric of those tender spaces.

You are not broken, you are becoming whole.

Metaphor:
In Japan, the art of Kintsugi repairs broken pottery with gold, making the cracks the most beautiful part of the piece.
Let your breath tonight be that gold, restoring what life has weathered and revealing the beauty in the mending.

Quotes:

“I am not broken, I am becoming whole.” – David Scott Yglesias

“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” – Rumi

“There is a crack in everything. That is how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen

“Healing is not about becoming someone new; it is about becoming who you already are.” – Unknown

Topic 3 – Becoming the Path

Reflection:
We spend so much energy searching for the way, looking outside ourselves for direction, meaning, or validation.
But the path is not ahead of us. It begins right where our feet are.
You cannot travel the path until you become the path itself.

Yoga teaches us that awareness is not a destination, it is a way of being.
When breath, intention, and movement align, we are no longer walking toward the light.
We are walking as the light.

Metaphor:
A river does not chase its course, it is its course.
By flowing, it shapes the land itself.
You too shape your world simply by being true to your flow.

Quotes:

“You cannot travel the path until you become the path itself.” – Buddha

“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.” – Buddha

“There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.” – Gandhi

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Topic 4 – When Light Finds Light

Reflection:
When awareness deepens, we see that our light was never ours alone.
The same radiance that shines within you shines within every being.
Through presence, we become mirrors for one another, each reflection igniting another spark until the room itself glows.

Light does not compete, it completes.
When one candle is lit, another can shine more brightly beside it.

Metaphor:
In a dark valley, a single lantern is lit. Then another answers from across the canyon. Soon, the entire valley shimmers with shared fire.
That is how consciousness spreads, quietly, beautifully, endlessly.

Quotes:

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.” – Buddha

“When you possess light within, you see it externally.” – Anaïs Nin

“To shine your brightest light is to be who you truly are.” – Roy T. Bennett

“Be a lamp unto yourself.” – Buddha

Topic 5 – The Bridge of Stillness

Reflection:
Stillness is not the absence of movement, it is the presence of awareness.
It is the pause where everything returns to balance.
When the body rests, the breath steadies, and the mind clears, we cross the invisible bridge between doing and being.

On the other side of that bridge, there is no striving, only seeing.
No fixing, only allowing.
And in that stillness, the truth reveals itself:
We were never separate. We were simply waiting to be seen.

Metaphor:
When the noise fades and the motion stops, the heart becomes like a quiet lake reflecting the sky.
Only then can we see what has always been above and within us, truth undistorted by turbulence.

Quotes:

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.” – Alan Watts

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time.” – Hermann Hesse

“Be still, and the world will unfold before you.” – Zen Proverb

“In the silence of the heart, God speaks.” – Mother Teresa

Closing Meditation

Breathe in and feel light enter the body.
Breathe out and feel it radiate beyond you.

In this stillness, separation dissolves.
There is no you or me, only light meeting light.

Carry this awareness with you in every step, every breath, every act of kindness that carries your flame forward.