Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm

Ajahn Brahm guides us gently into a lovely meditation, emphasizing kindness. First to our body, and then to our mind and whatever we happen to experience during our meditation. This guided meditation is part of an online retreat organized by the Anukampa Bhikkhuni Project. Ajahn Brahm is the popular Buddhist teacher to a growing international audience of people keen to learn meditation and develop a deeper spiritual understanding.

Transcript

Okay,

Here we go.

It's just not an ordinary meditation.

This will be an extraordinary one.

I don't know.

See what happens.

So here we go.

So when you're ready,

Please close your eyes.

Go with your eyes closed.

Please bring your awareness to your body,

Poor old body.

And if there is any part of my body which is really asking for attention,

I will give it to that part of the body even first.

So my tummy was a little bit burpy.

I'll give attention to my stomach first today.

My little stomach.

You've been doing so much good work for me over these years.

So often that people bring all sorts of stuff for me to eat.

And I put it into my mouth and you digest it for me.

Sometimes I don't know what they put in there.

It's as if I don't own my stomach.

It's been so good looking after me all these years.

Just that respect and gratitude I have to one little part of my body.

You know,

I just feel that part of the body is so relaxed now.

It's giving it gratitude.

And people are grateful to you for all the things which you do.

Others,

They say thank you and they really mean it.

They really mean thank you.

Thank you for being you.

What does that do to you?

Everything just relaxes,

It gets warm.

So I thank my toes right now.

Sometimes you are so far away from my head and so far away from my heart usually,

My little toes,

Big toes and little toes.

Thank you for looking after me,

Keeping me balanced when I walk.

Now allowing me to sometimes put a bit of pressure on you when I cross my legs to meditate.

I appreciate you.

The same with the soles of my feet and the uppers as well,

The whole feet.

I'm grateful.

And even the heel of my feet,

You take a lot of pressure.

But you look after me.

I try and look after you as best as possible.

I'm grateful to you.

You know that I never thought you could be mindful,

So mindful of just a small part of the body as the heel of your feet.

I can feel them now.

I'm aware.

I really can't describe the feeling,

The sensation,

But it's there.

I don't try and name it or change it,

I let it be.

I open the door of my heart to the feelings in the heels of my feet.

There is problems with it.

I'm just describing things,

Not making it up,

But tingling.

It tingles with pleasure.

It's like,

Why,

You really notice me?

Thank you.

I go up from the heels to my ankles.

And if you ever twisted your ankles or broken ankles or something,

But this is a narrow part of your body,

But it supports all these incredible weights of your body.

So I say,

Thank you.

I can feel it.

I relax it.

I don't know if anything is actually moving,

But it feels like it's opening up,

Being more peaceful,

More comfortable.

And it's pleasant to observe.

I move up to my legs,

Calves,

Big muscles in the back of my lower legs,

And the front of the legs,

And the bones.

I feel that.

Some people say just imagining it doesn't matter.

Imagining or really feeling it,

It still has the same effect of relaxing everything down there.

So it feels at ease,

Of any healing which is necessary can occur.

Then to your knees.

So many people want knee reconstructions or something because they've fallen over,

Or they've injured themselves,

Banged their knees or whatever.

Especially when you sit cross-legged in meditation for so many years.

You think you've done any damage to those knees?

But honestly,

Mine is,

These feel fantastic.

It's why I can sit meditation for long periods.

Why even just doing ceremonies and chanting or talking?

Sit cross-legged.

It's usually fine.

And from my knees,

Thank you,

Knees,

For looking after me.

Then to my thighs.

You know that I am quite,

I say to the fellow monks,

I've got gravitas.

They say,

Yes,

Yeah,

That means fat.

So my thighs have to support so much weight.

They do it so well.

They say,

Thank you,

Thighs,

The thigh bones and the skin in that area.

When I say thank you,

Have gratitude,

The thighs,

They do relax more.

I go to my butt.

I spend so much time sitting down these days.

Because I sit down so much.

I have these muscles in my butt,

I have to again,

Ensure a lot of pressure.

I care for you.

I'm grateful for you.

Now I need to stretch my back a bit.

So I'm just going to wiggle you a little bit with your permission,

Butt muscles.

Your feet say thank you.

The ankles,

The calves and the knees,

The thighs,

Now the butt too.

The whole lower part of my body is at ease.

Really at ease.

Relax to the max.

I go up my back,

I've already just stretched my back a little bit.

I did have sciatica some years ago because of laying concrete.

It's totally gone now.

Can't feel it at all.

So I feel this comfort in my back.

And the shoulders,

Again,

Nicely relaxed.

At ease.

You see,

Everything feels loose.

There's no tightness or tension or pressure anywhere.

So my whole back and shoulders is laying on the softest of cotton blankets.

Cotton mattresses,

Sorry.

There's cushions all over the place and so there's no tightness,

Tension on anything,

Anywhere.

And I maintain that perception.

I don't need to hold anything tightly.

I don't need to stretch things.

A lot of times the tension which causes the pain,

Which causes the illness,

Is all caused by fear.

Before I felt I had to be tense otherwise something would go wrong.

Now I'm at ease to be loose.

And that seems to be my body.

I go down my arms,

Pause my elbows,

And my wrists,

My hands,

Make sure every finger feels comfortable.

Exploring little parts of the body can sometimes cause pain afterwards.

It's just like you may think that you're an insignificant member of the company which you work.

So you feel that you're ignored.

Someone gives you a little bit of kindness,

Recognition.

You feel,

Wow,

They know I exist.

They're grateful to me.

It causes happiness and in the body,

The joyful feeling of relaxed happiness.

And I go back up to my shoulders,

My neck.

I'm moving my neck back and forth,

So everyone needs a little bit of exercise on their neck.

It's one of the trouble with looking at a computer,

Go look at the screen,

The little button where the camera is,

And when I got my eyes closed,

I don't need to look anywhere.

So the muscles in my neck,

Find a position where they feel comfortable.

I'm not going to tell them what they're supposed to feel.

Just how do you want to be neck?

How do you want to be positioned?

It's your call.

I'm not going to tell you.

And I'm training myself to be sensitive to this body in which I live and meditate and eat and walk and sleep and shower.

This little body of mine,

I care for.

Now grateful to my body,

How it supported me for 70 years.

Amazing.

I have had sicknesses,

Severe sicknesses,

But the body and my mind have found a way through them.

Thank you.

My body tingles with being recognised and being felt that I'm not just a tool or possession of yours,

Which is to be used as much as I possibly can.

It's something I care for.

And I go up to my face.

All those muscles around my eyes and my mouth,

They're actually already pretty relaxed.

I just notice them.

Even my eyes.

They've done such a lot of work.

My nose,

My mouth,

All the talks which my mouth has given over the years.

Thank you,

Mouth.

I don't know about you,

But when I practice gratitude like this,

As serious as I can,

The whole face just really relaxes.

It's like going to a,

What I imagine going to a spa,

Getting a makeover or something.

You just do that with your own mind and your kindness to it.

Caring to the max.

The gratitude and sense of saying thank you.

Thank you for being a service.

I go to my brain.

It's between my ears,

Twitters behind my eyes.

It's imagine it.

Thank you.

All the things I've asked you to do,

You've done it and more.

You've managed to organise things and figure out how things should be done.

Never perfect,

But it's amazing what you've done.

Remembering the sin of the two bad bricks in the wall.

There are 998 million good bricks in my brain.

Mistakes I made.

I can forgive those.

They had a sense of normal,

Normalcy,

Nature.

Nature is never perfect.

And nature is beautiful.

Always remember the clouds on the horizon or the dust.

That's what creates the most beautiful sunsets.

So because there's nothing I want to get rid of,

Everything I'm respectful for.

My body is so at ease.

It's like it's had a full body massage inside and out.

It's like it's been soaking in a spa bath,

Which in the jacuzzi,

I've seen those but I never got into one.

I don't know how they work.

That's what it feels like.

It's soaking in a bath.

And your body is just so at ease.

I always feel the joy,

The deep relaxation.

And it's a positive happiness because it's all built of mindfulness and kindness.

Just spending a few moments enjoying the results.

Not working them out and thinking.

But knowing,

Experiencing,

How to relax.

You feel those tingling,

Gorgeous feeling.

If you weren't around,

I'd just stay like this for a while.

Now it's a time to go inside.

Inside your body,

Inside the mind.

This present moment just now.

The past,

Thank you past,

All the experiences I've had,

You taught me so much.

I'm never trying to get rid of you.

You're almost in my heart.

You're who I am.

I'm not bothered about you.

Not burdened by you.

So the only past I know is how.

It created this moment,

This present moment.

Peace and joy and clarity.

Nothing I want to change.

Now for the future.

I know so many times that now is where my future is being made.

This moment,

This moment is the garden where my future is growing.

I don't need to cloud anything right now.

I need just to be in this moment,

Quietly.

With mindfulness and kindness.

No.

Because I'm in this moment.

I'm kind to this moment.

I don't need to think.

But the best simile I can give is like as a young person who listens to music and doesn't think anything because every chord which is played by that great orchestra.

You're aware of.

You don't want to miss one note.

I don't want to miss one note of this present moment awareness because every part of it is delightful.

I'm not trying to get anywhere or do anything or achieve anything better.

This moment is more than good enough.

I enjoy being here.

Peaceful,

Calm,

And free from any desire.

Experiencing the freedom from desire.

Being here.

Present moment awareness and silence.

You don't have to be aware of your breathing.

It just comes up for me.

I just know it.

I know it in the moment,

Just one breath at a time.

One part of one breath at a time.

You have enough mindfulness and kindness.

It's like you're in awe of all the different feelings which make up one's breath.

And the pause between the breaths.

And the out-breath begins.

I'm so grateful to my breath.

Feeding me with oxygen.

Taking away all the byproducts.

All the waste products.

All the waste.

I know just the out-breath of the carbon dioxide goes to the plants.

All this green in the forests where I live.

And they release the oxygen which I breathe in.

It's like connecting me to nature.

The oxygen comes from the plants.

The carbon dioxide feeds the plants.

And I find that very helpful.

Sitting here peaceful.

Please excuse me again.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Getting close to the end of the meditation.

What is it like inside?

How do you feel?

What worked?

What didn't?

It's like a deep briefing at the end of this short meditation.

This is where we get insights,

Where we learn.

Also where we enjoy peace of mind.

How did you feel outside?

How did you feel outside?

How did you feel outside the surface of your body?

How did you feel outside the surface of your body?

To end this meditation.

Reviews

Lovely and profound, as expected from Ajahn Brahm 😌✨

I am in love with Ajahn Brahm

Ajahn Brahm always brings so much joy and kind fulness to all his talks and meditations. We are truly blessed and this was a lovely little sit. Thank you! ☮️💖🙏🖖