Today I would like to share with you a meditation about forgiveness.
While forgiveness is not one of the hard practices,
Maybe it should be.
Without forgiveness,
How can we truly embody and practice loving kindness,
Compassion,
Appreciative joy,
Or equanimity?
Before we start meditating,
I would like to share with you a few thoughts and quotes to put our minds in the right place to meditate on forgiveness.
I think it's important that we pay attention to the roadblocks we've created because of not forgiving ourselves or others.
When thinking about wishing for forgiveness from others,
First we need to consider the pain and suffering that we have caused because of our actions or our words.
This is not to beat ourselves up,
It's just to be realistic about the situation.
We need to really think about our actions,
And when we truly have spent some time with them,
Then we can formally ask for forgiveness if it's appropriate.
We then repeat this towards ourselves,
Looking inward,
And if we haven't forgiven ourselves for things we've done,
Maybe it's time to take a good hard look and do some work on self-forgiveness.
All this work takes real effort.
It takes being willing to open our hearts,
But it's not a matter of just snapping our fingers and saying,
I'm sorry,
And expecting the pain to be gone.
Depending on the situation,
This is something we may have to do over and over.
It takes repetition,
But each situation is unique.
We just need to remember that in the process to be kind and gentle with ourselves,
To treat ourselves with love and compassion,
And to give time time.
Ajahn Chah said,
If you let go a little,
You'll have a little happiness.
If you let go a lot,
You will have a lot of happiness.
If you let go completely,
You'll be free.
Beautiful.
So let's begin the meditation.
Find a comfortable way to sit.
Let your back be straight but not stiff.
Let your eyes gently close.
And we will begin and end the meditation session with the bell.
So please set your attention that for the next bit of time,
You will be present with your focus being on forgiveness.
We will start off in forgiveness to ourselves as we settle in.
And if you feel ready,
We will move on to generating this feeling for others as we go through the stages.
Try to let whatever else might be grabbing your attention now go for the time being.
And now is the time to adjust your posture.
Sometimes rocking back and forth or side to side slightly will help you find that level.
Just make sure you're comfortable in a position that you can sit for a little while.
And then let your attention start to settle with your breath.
Just paying attention to the inhale and the exhale.
Now,
Take three deeper breaths into the belly.
Let the belly expand and try to fully exhale.
If we take these three deep breaths,
The beginning of each meditation,
The mind,
The body will recognize this after some time and realize that,
Okay,
It's time to start settling in now.
It's kind of a little mention to the mind and body to pay attention and to settle.
And bring your attention to what it feels like to be sitting here in the meditative posture in this safe,
Hopefully quiet environment.
Just pay attention to what arises,
What you notice,
The body on the cushion,
The temperature in the room,
Whatever it may be.
Now,
Before we get into the focus on forgiveness,
Let's do a short body scan,
Starting with the scalp.
Bring your awareness to the top of the head,
To the crown.
And if you can bring your attention to the sensation of the scalp,
Wonderful.
If not,
Let your imagination do the work.
Try to let that area relax and then move farther down the body.
The eyes and the jaw,
Notice them,
Let them relax.
The neck and shoulders and just move down through the body until you reach the soles of your feet.
Traspcode.
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