Kindness Meditation | Ven Canda

Ven Canda guides us in this meditation gently into present moment awareness and encourages us to relate to whatever we happen to experience with kindness and care - whether sensations in the body, or the experience of our own breath - we can receive everything with a wholesome relationship of kindness and care. A Buddhist nun since 2006, Ven Canda emphasises kindness and letting go as a way to deepen stillness and wisdom.

Transcript

How do you know you have a body? What are the feelings that tell you you're sitting here now in this present moment? It can be any feeling. Maybe some sensations are more prominent than others. And check if any of those more intense sensations could be eased by shifting your posture, Loosening her limb. You all know my habit every time actually. My heels are just a little bit too far pressed into the thigh or pressed into the opposition. I like to give them more space and a little bit of space for my toes to move. If you're sitting on a chair you might notice a tendency to have your ankles inside the knee, Not like inside it but under the knee and if you put your ankles slightly forward from the knee it relieves any pressure. You might find you've tried to establish a very legged spine. Just check whether it's erect but also relaxed. Likewise if you're slightly bent over, Hunched, Contracted. Let's take a breath, An in-breath and just see if you can very gently lengthen through the spine. Noticing the parts of the body touching the earth to feel grounded and also that length through the back, Space above the top of the head. Welcoming yourself into this space, Your own immediate physical environment which you've offered to yourself as a beautiful gift of solitude. Hopefully no one can come in, Ask you a question, Disturb you too much. And also this communal space of people who are so well known to us by now. Who we trust, Who we share our love for the Dhamma with. We might not know each other well but it doesn't even matter. Sometimes we feel closer to relative strangers who are on the same path than we do to our own family, Our work colleagues, Even friends. Just recognising that you're safe, You're welcome, You belong. Perhaps you sense the body relaxing with that recognition, Softening, Expanding a little bit. So if your mind's not quite centred yet in the present, It's still reverberating a little bit around the past, Ahead of itself. Notice how easy it is to become present again simply by contacting any sensation happening now. The present moment is always so close, So accessible. So if you'd like you can remain just with this simple present moment awareness. Or I'd like to invite those who wish to join me in a little body scan which will combine with the breath. So this is not something you have to get light, Try hard to perform, It's just an invitation to receive the breathing into each and every part of your body from the tips of the toes. And noticing any sensation in the toes, Or if that's difficult in the soles of the feet, Sending all your loving awareness to that part of the body. So if your toes, Your feet, Are the most important thing in the world right now. So if you can become aware of your breathing, Imagine that breath being received through the toes, Through the feet, So that with every in-breath the toes receive this wonderful life-giving oxygen. And with each out breath they relax that little bit more. So just imagining the breath coming in through the toes, Through the feet, Spreading to each and every cell, The bones, The flesh, The skin. And we're going to gently keep spreading our awareness up through the shins, Calves to the knees, Sensing it, Receiving any sensation, Along with the breath. So the breath will filling up the entire lower leg, Then being released back from the trees, The plants. Allowing this breathing, This breath, To massage any pain, Tightness, Throbbing, Tension. Just relaxing with the rhythm of the breath. And in your own speed you can continue like this, The shins, Sorry the thighs, Staying connected to the breath, Imagining your size, Receiving the breath so they were breathing, Feeling, Moving up to the buttocks, Seat of the trunk, All around the buttocks to the hips, Allowing this part of the body to be breathed. The oxygen feeding each and every cell. Moving up through the trunk, You may want to start with the back or the belly, Just allowing the whole trunk, The torso, To receive the breath, Noticing any sensations in that area, Maybe many different types of sensations there, Doesn't matter you don't need to give them a name. So right now I do have a slight cramp in the stomach. I'm just allowing the breath to help me to sense into that a little more deeply, Allow the breathing to open it up, Instead of the breath or massaging my intestines. Moving up to the chest, To the top of the back, The lips, The side of the trunk, The armpits, I'm really enjoying this breath that's so easily felt in this area, Relaxing into the rhythm. Perhaps noticing the breathing, Filling up the chest all the way to the collarbone, Even up into the shoulders, Soothing out, Smoothing out any creases, Tightness, Crunched up, Feelings in the shoulders, And feeling the fingers, Or if you want you can go from the shoulders to the hands, Moving through this area to the breathing. So perhaps by now sensing the subtle difference in the energy of the in breath and the out breath, So the hands coming back up through the shoulders to the neck, Breathing through the neck, So to the jaw, Underneath the chin, Mouth, Cheeks, Mouth, Perhaps noticing more sensations of breathing in the back of the throat or top of the nose, Upper lip, Wherever you feel any sensation just staying the breath, Allowing it to swirl around any areas of tightness or tension, The eye sockets, Temples, Brow, And sensing into any sensations in the scalp area, Across the top of the head, All around the sides of the head, The ears, So your whole body is filled with the breath, Perhaps experiencing the body breathing as one unit, So you were taking in the breath through the skin, Through each and every pore, Drinking it in, Then allowing it to release, Just relaxing, To your being breathed, So and if it works for you we might bring to mind that throughout the world there are many people meditating right now, Perhaps sending metta to all beings everywhere, Some of these beings are powerful, Pure-hearted, Noble beings, So see if you can imagine receiving this metta with each and every breath, As the breathing we're now infused with a non-conditional universal loving kindness that's available to you, So if it works for you you might imagine the Buddha himself sending you metta, Or any other archetype that represents loving kindness, Compassion to you, And you're just being bathed in this love, Receiving metta, Where a baby receives metta in the arms of a loving parent or guardian, They don't have to do anything, Be anymore, They're just loved, So recognizing that just as you're receiving or imagining, You're receiving this metta, We're all receiving the same metta together, We're all held involved without discrimination, Preference, Excluding anybody, We're all held in this beautiful universal loving kindness that is available in this universe. So you So if you're enjoying this meditation you can continue to allow yourself to dissolve into this feeling of universal unconditional kindness and nipdha. And if you are ready to come out of the meditation, You'll do so really slowly so don't open your eyes fully just open them very partially so you're glancing down, Eyes half shut. Continue to sense into your breath your presence. Just sitting, Receiving, Breathing. Close your eyes again. When you're ready you may try this again come out slowly opening your eyes just a little bit. Staying connected to any sensations to the breath whatever is present for you.

Reviews

So lovely. Feeling the calm and the Metta. Wonderful practice and such a kind gentle voice. Thank you

Always such profound guidance, thank you Venerable Canda 🙏🏼🧘🏻‍♂️⚡️

Very gentle and nourishing Thank you 🙏

Very calming and peaceful. I don't often have the experience of being aware of being the recipient of the metta sent out by other meditators but truly did during this meditation. Thank you. May you be happy, well and have all that you need ☺️

Beautiful ideas and