Compassion meditation.
In this meditation we're developing the beautiful quality of compassion,
The capacity of the open heart to turn towards and meet suffering and pain in ourselves and in the world and feel a quivering,
A response,
A natural care and kindness and wish to relieve that suffering.
It's a quality that allows us to stay steady in the midst of pain,
To not be overwhelmed and yet to feel the genuine concern and care.
We all have this quality innately within us and we can develop it through meditation practice.
So beginning the meditation,
Finding a comfortable posture where you can sit at ease,
Relaxed,
Yet upright.
Bringing the attention to the heart center,
Feeling the breath move in and out through the chest.
And in the practice we'll be directing this force of care,
Of compassion to different people and ultimately outwards to include all beings and all life.
And we begin by calling someone to mind,
Someone we have a strong connection to,
Someone we may love dearly,
Someone perhaps who's shown us a lot of care and kindness and friendship in this life,
Perhaps a relative or a teacher or an old friend,
A mentor,
Someone with whom it's easy for us to feel a sense of open heartedness and choosing someone also who is experiencing some pain,
Some difficulty,
Some challenging circumstances,
Some health issue,
Emotional difficulty,
Mental health challenges,
Financial struggle,
All the many ways that we can experience pain and suffering in this life.
Calling someone to mind,
Sensing them,
Feeling them,
Visualizing them and sensing into their difficulty,
Their current struggle,
The vulnerability,
The challenge of being human.
Seeing this person in your heart,
Opening to their difficulty,
Their distress,
Seeing if you can allow this person in,
Holding them with a kind embrace.
And then through this practice,
We'll use phrases that express our concern,
Our compassion.
The primary phrase is,
May you be free from pain and suffering.
May you be free from pain and suffering.
But you may also like to add two other phrases.
I care about you.
I care that you're suffering.
May you hold your suffering with ease.
I care about you.
May you be free of pain and suffering.
May you hold your pain and suffering with ease.
You're free to use just one of those phrases,
All of those phrases,
Or a phrase that more particularly speaks to you,
That expresses this heart of compassion.
May you be free of pain and suffering.
Tuning to this person's difficulty,
Cultivating this wish of the caring heart that wishes to relieve suffering,
And saying the phrases slowly,
Steadily to this person as an offering.
May you be free from pain and suffering.
And now calling to mind a good friend,
Someone also who's experiencing some difficulty,
Some distress,
Some health or emotional challenge,
Some difficulty in their family life,
Their work life.
Putting this friend to mind into your heart,
Sensing them,
And tuning to their difficulty,
To their challenge,
Their distress.
It's not all of who they are by any means.
Feeling them in your heart with kindness,
With care.
Extending the phrases of compassion.
I care about you.
I care that you're suffering.
May you be free of pain and suffering.
May you hold yourself,
May you hold the pain with ease,
With as much ease as is possible.
May you be free of pain and suffering.
Staying connected with your friend,
Offering the phrases slowly,
Meaningfully,
Connecting with the intention behind each phrase.
Being watchful of the tendency to get lost in simply thinking about this person,
Or trying to fix or change their situation.
Returning again and again to the difficulty into holding them with a kind embrace.
I care about you.
May you be free of suffering.
May you hold your pain with ease.
Now turning attention to ourselves,
To the pain that we carry in our heart,
To the difficulty we may be having in our lives,
At work,
In our relationships,
Struggles we may be having with our health,
Finances,
Or any ways we're simply having distress,
Pain and suffering.
Turning the attention to the challenges,
To the pain you may be feeling,
Softening and opening the heart to the reality of that,
To the pain,
To the burden of carrying that.
And extending this wish,
This movement of compassion,
Holding yourself with kindness and offering yourself these phrases.
May I be free of pain and suffering.
May I hold my suffering with ease.
May I be free of pain and suffering.
May I hold my suffering with ease.
Saying these phrases or your own phrases slowly connecting with the meaning of each phrase,
Letting the meaning sink into your heart,
Into your body.
May I be free of pain and suffering.
May I be free of pain and suffering.
Being connected with yourself,
With your heart,
With the phrases,
And now extending this quality of kindness and compassion outward to ever widening circles.
You can call into your mind and heart all those you know who are in difficulty,
Who are struggling,
Who are in pain,
Health challenges,
Aging challenges,
Who are struggling financially,
Or in whatever ways people may be in pain that you know.
Extending this blessing,
This force of kindness and compassion.
May you too be free from pain and suffering.
May you hold your pain with ease.
Extending this wish to whoever comes into your heart,
Family,
Friends,
Colleagues,
Neighbors.
Now extending this field of compassion wider to include the greater field of suffering in the world,
To all those who are sick,
To all those who are dying,
To all those suffering due to war,
Hunger,
Famine,
Exploitation,
And abuse.
To wherever they may be suffering,
Extending this force of compassion.
May all peoples,
All beings,
All animals and creatures who are suffering,
May you be free of pain and suffering.
May you hold your suffering with ease.
You may continue on with this meditation,
Extending throughout the world to all beings,
All life everywhere.
May all life be free of pain and suffering.
And as you bring this practice to a close,
To take this seed of compassion within your heart,
Into yourself,
Into your life,
Into everything that you do,
Into everybody that you meet,
Extending this force of kindness and care and concern.
May all beings everywhere be free from pain and suffering.
