Meditation From Home With Bhikkhuni Vimala

Join Bhikkhuni Vimala for her first guided meditation from home. She will lead you step by step through your practice and will provide insight into the global pandemic. She encourages you to accept and reflect on your current thoughts.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Wima Labikuni.

I'm typically a monastic at Blue Lotus Temple in Woodstock,

Illinois,

But because we're keeping our distance these days,

I'm at home and not in any of the recordings at the temple.

But I wanted to be able to share with you and to do something that might be of help and support for people.

So I wanted to help with a meditation and just begin with a basic meditation practice that you can do whether you're a Buddhist or not.

This is a universal practice and in these days we need everything we can get.

We need all the tools we can have to maintain our own stability and tranquility.

We're all dealing with fear and worry and anxiety.

As each day goes on,

There are more people that we begin to think about who we know who may be affected by this virus.

And I think if we don't acknowledge those concerns we have inside,

They only get worse.

They don't go away when we try to just ignore them or press them down.

So in trying to relax or to sleep better or to just be more fully present in the now and not worrying about the future or the past,

I think meditation is a wonderful tool to have.

So let's just begin.

I want you to close your eyes if you're comfortable with that.

I don't think you'll miss anything if you're not watching me talk.

Close your eyes.

Now let all of your focus for a minute or two be on finding a comfortable posture.

You want to be seated comfortably so you can be on your back,

On the floor with your knees raised,

Maybe a pillow under your knees or under your neck.

Or you can be in a comfortable chair but make sure it's not too soft or mushy because it will be hard for you to keep your good posture.

Or you can be sitting on a cushion on the floor with your legs crossed,

Whatever is comfortable for you.

And allow yourself as much time as you need to find a posture that you can stay in.

You may need to stretch or realign yourself but you want to be able to stay still as much as you can while we're practicing.

So be comfortable.

If you're not comfortable,

Your mind won't allow you to meditate and get the benefits from it.

So when you have that posture with your back as straight as your back feels comfortable being and you feel that your spine is aligned,

That you're comfortable through the hip area however you're seated,

Your hands can be just resting in your lap.

You can have palms down on the top of your legs or palms up.

Close your eyes and just begin to be aware of your breathing.

Let's start with more breathing practice than we typically do at the beginning of a meditation.

But during these stressful days,

I know for all of us we're carrying more stress even that we're not aware of.

We may do a pretty good job of not showing it or not having it manifest in different ways but we know it's there.

The more we are aware of ourselves,

The more we know it's there.

So let's just breathe.

Take a really deep long breath all the way down to your belly.

Breathing in through your nose if you can and then when you release that breath,

Go back down releasing it all the way down into your belly.

Let's just do a few cycles of this deeper breathing.

Even being at home all day,

Even if you're by yourself,

You may want to stop and just check your breathing whenever you can.

Just be sure you're breathing in and breathing out,

Getting a full breath each time.

Now we can relax and be back in our natural breath but really taking care of our breathing and getting more of these belly breaths in is a good practice during this entire time that we're feeling stress and feeling confinement and feeling certain levels,

Some levels of anxiety.

But now just let your breathing be something you can be aware of instead of controlling.

Relax into this present moment in the particular spot you're in.

Wherever you are,

Really feel yourself being present there.

Be present in your own body,

In your own spot.

Today I'd like to focus on compassion and loving kindness practice.

So for right now,

I want you to think about yourself with your eyes closed,

Breathing in through your nostrils and out through your nostrils.

I want you to check yourself.

How are you doing?

And think about self-love and self-compassion.

This is where we begin,

Starting within ourselves,

Being friendly to ourselves,

Taking care of ourselves.

Then we begin to send it out to others.

And the same with compassion.

Compassion is when we can really see another person suffering.

And true compassion then thinks of what we would want in that person's situation,

What we would need to help our suffering.

And sometimes we're able to give that other person what they need.

And other times we may recognize that if we were in that person's place,

There would be nothing anyone else could do for us.

We may have to be a witness.

We may have to send prayers,

To send blessings,

To send our good thoughts.

But there may be little else we can do.

And when we look at ourselves and send self-compassion,

We look at our own situation.

And as observantly as we can and with as much discernment as we can use,

We try to see what we really need.

And then we see if we can give ourselves those things that we truly need.

I see the question.

If you see anxiety within yourself,

Then that's what we need to give ourselves.

It's that chance to be free from anxiety,

Free from worry,

Free from fear.

The first way we work with fear and worry and anxiety is to recognize it.

When we can accept those things in us that we're trying to push away,

Those emotions,

Those feelings,

That's the first step to really being able to work with them.

And sometimes it's all we need to do.

We need to say,

Yes,

They're here.

I am feeling these things.

This has finally gotten to me.

It feels closer to home.

It feels out of control.

I'm frustrated.

I don't know what to do.

However those things are manifesting,

Just accept that right now.

Accept that we're dealing with worry and anxiety and fear.

Sometimes we only know that when it wakes us up in the middle of the night.

For many of us though,

Our typical daily distractions are different.

We can't go visit anyone or go to the store or have people over or meet people for coffee.

We can't go to our usual gatherings and meetings and places where we have our different communities.

So we may be more aware or we may be trying harder not to be aware of the worry that we feel or the anxiety.

And when we're sitting here now,

It's okay to recognize those things.

And if we're feeling good,

It's okay to recognize that.

And just accept it.

However you feel right now is perfectly normal,

It's okay.

Just let those things be.

That's the way we begin.

Seeing what's there,

Seeing what's really going on and allowing it to be that way.

Accept things the way they are right now.

And that lets us be able to begin changing them if we want or strengthening those wholesome feelings that we have.

So for many of us,

Being more isolated gives us time to be with ourselves and to be in a more contemplative mode.

And that can feel really good.

But then we also see that we're part of the bigger world.

So I think it's really difficult not to have some anxiety about what's happening with the people we love,

The people we know,

The people that we know are on this planet.

And not know personally,

But the people we know,

We're connected to because we're human beings.

Because we sit with our uncomfortable feelings or we may be a little guilty about feeling calm and at peace.

We sit with these feelings and just see them as they are,

For what they are.

These are not the things that define us,

These are not ours,

These are not us.

These are all impermanent states in our mind.

However good or bad we're feeling at this moment,

In another moment,

Maybe in 10 minutes or 30 minutes or tomorrow,

We'll have totally different feelings.

They're always coming and going,

Like our thoughts.

This is not who we are.

So when we see these difficult feelings arising,

We can stop,

We can recognize them,

We can allow them to be there.

And then just look at them,

Be aware of them.

You may need to talk to them.

As you breathe,

Just be aware of what you're feeling.

Be aware that all people everywhere right now are probably feeling pretty much the same thing in very different degrees.

Everyone listening to my voice probably has a comfortable home,

Probably has enough food to eat.

That's certainly not the case for so many people in this world.

It doesn't diminish how we feel,

But it can help us connect to a bigger,

Bigger world of people and animals and beings.

And as we learn to accept our own feelings the way they are at the moment and see them just for what they are,

They are just thoughts,

They are emotions that come and go.

When we worry,

It's worrying about the future and we begin to create and make up stories about what might happen,

What could happen,

And what we're trying to do with this practice is learn to come back to the moment.

Right now,

If you're listening to me,

You're okay.

Right in this moment,

We're all okay.

So send compassion to yourself,

Send friendliness to yourself,

And then extend it out first of all to your family and your close friends.

May they be well,

May they be safe,

May they be content,

And may they be filled with peace.

Right now,

The silence is short or long,

Please continue to demand And now extend these same thoughts out of the way.

Walk beyond your close friends and family and just allow it to radiate out to all living beings,

All people in the world,

All creatures.

Be all beings,

Human and non-human.

Be well.

Be safe.

Be content and be at peace.

Be not angered by the Continue sitting if you can.

I'll finish this video,

But please go ahead and continue to sit.

May peace be with you.

Reviews

Thank you so much. It sure is a remarkable situation on this planet. All of a sudden there's an opportunity for all of us to realize how much we actually have in common wether we live near or far, east or west, south or north. All the best to you from Marita in Stockholm Sweden 💜🙏🏼

Lovely. Thank you.