To begin this practice,
We find a comfortable stationary position and then allow our body to settle down into a state that is relatively relaxed,
Still,
And yet vigilant enough to support our meditation.
Allowing the process of natural breathing to wash away all the types of physical tension throughout our body,
Including the area of our feet and toes,
Our pelvic floor,
Our hands and fingers,
Our shoulders and our face.
Then taking a moment to generate a truly positive,
Truly vast motivation,
Aspiring for greater levels of awakening for the benefit of all beings.
And even for the full awakening itself,
So that we might be of the greatest possible service to all,
Helping them all wake up to the true nature of reality and the blissful nature of reality as well.
And with that as the foundation of our practice,
We shift to the practice of taking and giving itself by first directing our awareness to the types of unpleasant experiences that we might be going through right now,
Identifying those in the domain of our experience.
It might be something physical,
Physical pain,
For example,
Or something related to our emotions,
Our moods,
Our feelings,
For example,
Heartbreak or anxiety,
Or an especially strong,
Disturbing mental state.
And we can equally think of the circumstantial aspects of our suffering and discomfort,
The outer circumstances,
The situations,
The problematic relationships and so forth.
Basically identifying the suffering and the causes of suffering as we see them right now.
And then expanding our perspective by thinking that there are numerous other sentient beings who are facing similar types of problems right now.
Physical pain,
Mental anguish,
Strong,
Disturbing mental states,
Problems related to relationships,
Circumstances and so forth.
So many more beings in this world experiencing that,
Starting perhaps with some of the people we know,
And then expanding into infinity.
If we could use our own discomfort and its causes as a powerful magnet to extract and remove the suffering of others,
If we could liberate the world and all beings by simply breathing in all the suffering of every being,
Wouldn't we want to do that?
Or at least,
Wouldn't we want to have that type of courage,
The heroic resolve to liberate all beings?
Therefore,
Using our own discomfort,
Our own suffering wisely,
As fuel or powerful bound to liberate all beings,
We could create a boundless compassion that would also melt the ice of our self-grasping and allow us to truly wake up to our infinite inter-being,
Inter-connectedness.
With this we can start imagining that our own suffering,
Present somewhere in the energy field of our body and mind,
Indeed starts acting as a powerful magnet,
Attracting the suffering of everyone else,
Extracting it from beings.
And we can imagine that suffering leaving all the other beings as tiny dark particles,
Or as dark light,
Or something else that's symbolic,
Representing different types of suffering and the causes of suffering.
And if we are feeling quite courageous,
We can even use very graphic imagery,
Very specific types of images related to the specific types of suffering that beings undergo,
War,
Disease,
And so forth.
So we adjust the imagery,
And then we imagine this process of removing suffering,
And all the particles of this suffering get attracted to our suffering.
We bring them closer and closer to ourselves with each in-breath,
Therefore removing them from everyone else in the spirit of compassion,
Of wishing for all beings to be free.
And then when these particles of suffering enter our own system,
They,
Together with our own suffering,
Melt and disappear in the true boundless nature of our mind,
Represented by the boundless glow in the center of our heart,
Our spacious basic goodness.
So for a while we rest in this process of extracting,
Absorbing,
Dissolving,
Removing the suffering of all beings,
And if specific beings come to mind in this moment,
Specific beings that are suffering physically or mentally,
Or in terms of their circumstances,
We can focus our practice on them along with everyone else.
And ideally that would include not just the beings that we feel close to,
That we like,
But also the beings that we disagree with,
That we see as deeply deluded.
These beings especially need that sense of freedom,
Freedom from delusions,
Or mental afflictions from wrong views,
Until we can eventually imagine that all the suffering in the world has been dissolved in the boundless basic goodness that we all possess.
And then comes the giving part.
If we could indeed share joy,
Happiness,
Bliss,
Well-being with everyone,
If we could make everyone truly happy,
Both on the outer and the inner level,
Simply by sharing our resources,
Or giving away our own joy,
If we could truly make the entire world happy and blissful,
Wouldn't we want to do that?
Or at least wouldn't we want to have that level of courage,
That boundless Bodhisattva mind,
That through seeing our interbeing grants happiness to all?
And then imagining that from our glowing basic goodness come forth infinite waves of blissful joy,
Representing all the resources,
All the gifts,
All the types of support,
All the types of happiness that all beings might need.
And we're consciously directing these waves of joy and bliss to all the beings,
Sharing or giving away,
If we feel especially courageous,
Our happiness,
Our inner and outer resources,
Our mental clarity,
Our wisdom,
Everything that might be good and wholesome.
In the spirit of interbeing,
Without grasping,
Or to remove the grasping that lies at the heart of our suffering.
And once again,
If it feels inspiring,
We can focus on the specific people,
Beings in our life,
That need that boost right now,
That need that wave of support.
And that's not simply our friends and loved ones,
It's also the beings that we might see as deluded,
As evildoers,
Because those beings can especially benefit from a sense of being in touch with their basic goodness,
From the sense of being truly loved,
From wisdom,
From mental clarity.
Sending those waves out,
Until the entire world with all the beings can be imagined as being full of blissful clarity,
And eventually fully awake to the true interdependent nature of reality that is spacious and blissful.
And then allowing these images to dissolve in the open nature of our mind,
Where we rest temporarily without any reference points,
But with that afterglow of compassion and love.
And then mentally dedicating this energy,
The energy of this practice,
To our highest awakening for the benefit of all beings,
And to the well-being of all who live right here and now.
And then bringing our awareness back to the body,
Introducing some movement to the body,
And then slowly concluding the practice.
