And so,
Arriving at a comfortable stationary position,
Once again for some of us the supine position,
For some an upright position,
Also if you have unique physical needs,
No shame in taking a position that's uniquely suitable for your body.
The most important element of our physical position here is that it's stable and comfortable.
And if we can,
We might still want to elongate the spine,
Relax our shoulders,
Put our hands in a comfortable position where they can be still and relaxed.
Then we bring our awareness to the body.
And once again,
That can start with our awareness touching the earth,
Noticing the sensations of being in contact with the ground,
And then allowing the body parts that are in contact with the ground to start releasing physical tension and any type of deliberate movement,
Allowing that experience of ease to spread outwards from our feet and toes,
Or the backside of our legs,
Or the entire backside of our body,
Encompassing our pelvic floor,
Our torso,
Our hands and fingers,
Which would ideally become truly still,
Then spending some time with our facial muscles to soften them,
And once again allowing our breath to move naturally without any control from our side,
Where we know that the body itself is wise and is able to choose the optimal rhythm that would support our practice.
And then the next step after that is to revisit our highest aspirations and goals for contemplative practice in general,
Orienting this meditation towards the fulfillment of those goals.
May it contribute to my desires and aspirations being fulfilled.
The highest aspirations that I have with regards to psychological or spiritual growth,
Me realizing my full potential for the benefit of beings,
For the benefit of the world.
And having made that preliminary cognitive movement,
Or having established that motivation as the basis for our practice,
We then go on to think of an inspiring,
Naturally joyful person who would serve as an example of empathetic joy for us,
As an example of joy.
And if visual imagination is available to us,
We can see this person in front of ourselves,
Imagine them,
Their presence,
Their energy,
Their form,
Using that visual image simply as a reminder of the natural quality of lightheartedness,
The lightness of being that this person naturally possesses.
So,
While still breathing naturally,
We focus on that lightness of being,
On all the dancing sparks of joy within this person that get expressed through their verbal actions,
Through the movements of their body,
Through their laughter,
Their facial expressions,
Their jokes,
Their attitude towards their own problems,
Focusing on that inner well-being,
That inner lightness,
Eudaimonic joy or joy of being,
And finding delight in that from our side by thinking,
How wonderful,
How incredible,
How amazing,
We can use any verbal anchor to generate that attitude,
Or simply go into that delight directly,
If possible.
But delighting in their inner joy,
In their lightness of being.
When we delight in that joy,
We activate empathetic joy or mudita.
That's exactly the point here.
But on top of this mudita with regards to the inner well-being of this person,
Their natural lightness of being,
We can also think about the different sparks of joy that arise when this person encounters outer or hedonic pleasures,
The good-natured enjoyment that they might have with regards to tea,
Coffee,
Nice food,
A restful night,
Beautiful visual images,
Nice music,
And so forth.
There's probably quite a few types of good-natured joy,
Hedonic joy,
That this person experiences through having access to sleep,
Medical care,
Food,
Companionship,
And so forth.
And so we can extend our empathetic joy to those types of delight as well.
How wonderful!
So in this person we have the more transitory or fleeting sparks of joy related to hedonia,
To outer stimulation that is pleasurable,
And we have the stable flame of eudaimonic or inner well-being that they have either been born with or cultivated through their practice of inner well-being.
And with regards to all of that,
We're generating this delightful attitude,
The attitude of being delighted and feeling,
Thinking,
Experiencing this joy about their joy.
How wonderful!
So these acts of discerning their happiness and joy plus the hook of the verbal cue,
Such thoughts as how wonderful,
How amazing,
And so forth,
Allow us to shape our mental energy,
Our attitude,
Into the empathetic delight or mudita.
And then we just rest in that,
Or we can use our process of breathing to strengthen this.
With each new out-breath we can make that delight stronger and stronger.
But the breath itself should still ideally flow naturally.
We're not holding it,
We're not forcing it,
But its natural gentle waves can accompany and strengthen our attitude of empathetic joy.
Then for the next step in this practice,
We bring our awareness to ourselves as a person.
Our source of inspiration can still remain in the space in front of us,
But now we're attending to ourselves,
And within ourselves we are now trying to discern some sparks of joy,
Happiness,
Well-being as well.
For some people it's easier to start with the hedonic joys here,
Thinking of our good-natured,
Pleasurable experiences.
A nice cup of tea,
A nice meal,
A pleasant conversation,
Sensory joys,
Related to having enough to eat,
And so forth.
Noticing these joyful sparks,
We can once again experience empathetic joy towards them.
How wonderful,
How delightful.
And then on a deeper level we can also try to discern the inner joy that we possess,
At least to a certain degree.
We are at least sometimes content,
Calm,
Peaceful,
Compassionate,
Loving,
Generous,
And then enjoying that generosity when it gets expressed.
Attuned with interdependence and then enjoying that feeling of being interdependently existent with others.
So we can attend to these sparks of inner joy and once again delight,
Take delight by thinking,
Feeling.
How wonderful.
And then for the final stage of this specific practice,
With regards to both the inspirational person that we thought of and ourselves,
We can wish for this joy to keep growing.
Becoming more expansive,
More meaningful,
More profound.
Growing in every direction that is non-harmful,
That is wholesome in its nature.
So it can be simply the wish,
May this joy grow.
And then while exhaling,
While breathing out,
We can almost feel that we are fanning the flames of this joy.
In ourselves,
In our source of inspiration,
And eventually for all beings.
Then we bring our awareness to the body.
Noticing the sensations,
The experiences,
The current state and the position of the body.
And with our body still resting for these last moments of the practice,
We spend a few moments dedicating the energy and the effort that we have just applied in this practice by once again returning to our highest aspirations,
Goals,
Wishes for contemplative life in general and dedicating the energy of this specific meditation to the fulfillment of those.
And then reactivating the body by introducing some movement to it and slowly concluding the practice.
