Compassion Meditation

Compassion Meditation, part of a 6 week introduction to mindfulness meditation taught by Brent Morton, Spirit Rock/IMS trained meditation/dharma teacher living in Seattle.

Transcript

You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world.

That is something you are free to do and it accords with your nature.

But perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could avoid.

That's from Franz Kafka.

Compassion practice.

In this meditation we will be deliberately turning the heart towards suffering.

This is a difficult meditation practice.

It's not easy.

It is a practice,

However.

Compassion can be practiced,

Cultivated and strengthened.

It's not like we are born with a set amount of compassion.

We can strengthen it just like we can strengthen biceps.

Compassion in Buddhism is described as the quivering of the awakened heart.

It's when this open heart of meta meets pain,

Our own or that of others.

Compassion is a boundless state.

What's meant by that is that there's no limit to it.

That when compassion is cultivated to an extreme state,

There is nothing that can overwhelm it.

No pain is too great for a heart that is trained in compassion.

The near enemy of compassion is pity.

Pity is not compassion.

Pity,

There's some distance,

Some separation.

Oh,

You poor person over there,

That must suck.

Compassion is a closeness.

It suffers with.

There's a quivering to it.

We get close to others' pain as well as our own and allow the heart to quiver and move and breathe.

Another thing we would do well to avoid in this practice is to get overwhelmed.

It doesn't help anyone to get overwhelmed by the suffering of the world or slip into despair or fear and anxiety.

If you're doing this practice and you notice you're slipping into despair,

Change the channel.

Try something else.

Try doing this practice on someone where it's not so difficult,

There's not as much pain.

Or you can drop the practice altogether and switch to mindfulness practice again.

Being wary of slipping into despair.

Bringing to mind someone in your life that is suffering,

That is going through a hard time.

And I recommend starting with someone that is maybe not suffering in an extreme way.

Someone who is going through some mild dukkha,

Mild suffering.

And just like in the metta practice,

Imagine this person is in front of you,

Say six feet or so.

So with your eyes closed,

Feeling their presence.

Or if you're a visual person,

You might actually see them.

You might see how their face looks.

And also bring to mind their particular struggle.

Feeling how the heart reacts,

Just to feel this person close to you and to feel their struggle.

You might note to yourself softly how your heart feels.

Quivering,

Contracted,

Overwhelmed,

Timid.

And there's just one phrase for the compassion practice.

I care about this pain.

You might even say the name of this person out in front of you.

John,

I care about this pain.

Sally,

I care about this pain.

It's as if you're stating the intention to meet this being suffering with openness,

With an open heart.

Compassion doesn't need to fix.

Compassion doesn't need to explain.

Compassion doesn't need to blame anyone or figure it out.

Compassion just meets the experience with openness.

It's an accepting.

It's like this.

I care about this pain.

I care about your pain.

See if you can get close to this person's pain.

Your heart can resonate with it.

But maintaining your center.

If you notice yourself slipping into overwhelm or pity,

Try to keep the practice going,

Saying again,

I care about this pain.

Try to make it through the rough patch.

But if after a few minutes you find yourself just simply overwhelmed,

Let the practice go and return to the mindfulness practice.

Or perhaps you can switch to someone whose problem isn't so overwhelming for you.

We train with the five pound dumbbells and eventually we're bench pressing 200 pounds.

John,

I care about your pain.

Stating the phrase over and over and over and over and over again.

And also sensing how the heart is responding.

The feeling of compassion can be felt as a quivering or a burn of sorts.

A heat.

Warm.

Compassion is not selective.

You don't need to deserve it.

They don't need to deserve it.

Compassion meets everything,

All suffering with the same open-heartedness.

Turning this compassion now towards ourselves,

It might be helpful to hold a hand to your heart or give yourself a little hug.

This can help to cultivate this quality of compassion.

In bringing to mind an aspect of your life where there is some suffering,

Some pain,

And in the same way you showed up for another person's suffering,

Show up for your own.

I care about my pain.

I care about this pain.

Meeting this pain with compassion.

I don't need to fix it.

I don't need to blame anyone for it.

I don't need to figure it out.

I don't need to deserve it.

I care about this pain.

Over and over and over again.

I care about this pain.

If you're finding it difficult to connect to your own suffering with compassion,

I offer this practice that's useful for some people.

Imagine a great saint has taken possession of your right hand,

Or a great goddess or god or an infinitely compassionate being such as Mother Mary,

Mother Teresa,

The Dalai Lama,

Kuan Yin.

Someone or something that symbolizes this aspect of universal compassion,

This capacity to be with suffering without being overwhelmed,

Think Mother Teresa and the lepers of Kolkata.

Imagine they have taken possession of your right hand,

And then think of a time in your life when you were really in a lot of pain,

In a lot of suffering.

And then imagine that being places there,

That right hand on your cheek,

And just gently touches your cheek.

Oh,

Suffering.

The pain is still there,

But it's held with this universal quality of openness,

Acceptance,

And compassion.

You can feel the warmth of the hand on your cheek,

The hand belonging to this great being.

I care about this pain.

Overcome any bitterness because you are not up to the magnitude of the pain entrusted to you.

Like the mother of the world who carries the pain of the world in her heart,

You are sharing in the totality of this pain and are called upon to meet it in compassion and joy instead of self-pity.

Sufi master Puraviliyat Khan.

May all beings meet the suffering of this life with compassion.

Reviews

Thanks. I am really in need of self-compassion!😊😊

Beautiful!!❤️🙏❤️

Brent your meditation really resonated with me today & allowed me to connect to my heart. Thank you☺️🙏🏻💫

Beautiful and profound. Thank you, Brent.

Beautiful.
Thank you.

Great for a beginner or someone who is not seeking copious quiet spaces for self practice. Well guided.

So amazing I am leaving to tour Syrian refugee camps and this is exactly what I was looking for Thank you. It will become my daily meditation

Wonderful exercise for compassion.

Brent is amazing in every guided meditation... such a soothing voice... such a beautiful vibration.