Take a comfortable position,
Best you can.
I like to rock back and forth a little bit just to kind of find that spot that seems right.
You know,
Sometimes we fidget and sometimes fidgeting creates more fidgeting.
But if we just settle into our seat,
Allow the breath to be natural,
Just try to sense into the body,
Just really try to see what's present.
Allow the body to relax a little bit.
The fidgeting usually also relaxes.
So as we do in all the heart practices,
We begin by considering the phrases for ourselves.
So we set an intention that for this period of sitting meditation and walking meditation,
That we're going to be considering compassion,
Karuna,
This idea of kindness in the face of suffering.
And I really like the Buddha's idea of the word dukkha,
Of the instability,
Instability,
Unstable.
But when we offer ourselves care,
Kindness,
Love,
That we can sit up a little straighter,
That the body settles,
That there's some stability.
Our heart softens a bit,
Maybe even a feeling of okayness arises.
Maybe bring to mind,
If you can or want to,
Something in your life where you have not been kind to yourself.
The wise way to meet it would be kindness,
But instead,
Maybe you ignore it,
Maybe you talk down to yourself,
Maybe you minimize it.
How would it be,
How would it be,
If you could find the courage to be kind to yourself about this thing?
If you could wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a hug and say,
I care about you,
It's going to be okay.
What would that look like?
And if we feel a blockage,
Resistance,
Maybe investigate,
Why do I not believe that I deserve my own care?
The Buddha said we could search the whole world over,
The whole world,
And not find another individual any more worthy of our care than ourselves.
Now let's let go of these sensations towards ourselves,
These considerations of our own suffering,
And give the opportunity to offer these feelings of caring about the suffering of another.
So first we bring a benefactor to mind,
And as we consider this we think to ourselves,
I care about your suffering,
I deeply care about your suffering,
I'm willing to bear witness to your suffering.
And then we move on to a stranger.
We spoke quite a bit about the idea of compassion for strangers,
For people that are currently unhoused,
And we know from this discussion how difficult it is.
There's this desire,
But how can we just open our hearts and begin by just saying,
I care about your suffering,
I care about your suffering.
And then we bring up family and friends,
And considering suffering of our family and friends can really be difficult.
So the bravery piece comes in,
Not turning away,
Turning towards,
Coming alongside,
Seeing what will serve,
Caring about their suffering,
Even when there's nothing you can do,
Caring deeply.
And then we move on to the difficult character.
We all have at least one.
And it takes conservative effort to offer care and wish for someone that we really might not care for,
That their suffering ends.
Holding in ill will,
Dislike,
Hatred,
It's of no benefit to us,
It actually is harmful.
So with all the energy you can muster,
Offer just a little bit of compassion to someone who's difficult in your heart.
Lastly,
Open it up to all beings.
There is more suffering than we could imagine.
It's just part of the existence in this realm.
And we do what we can,
But when we open our hearts to caring,
Not fixing,
Not making everything right,
But simply not turning away.
