Welcome for this meditation where we'll practice compassion.
So let's begin by just being present,
Bringing the awareness inside the body.
You can take a moment to just connect to the feelings in the body,
Whatever they are.
And then maybe take a deep breath,
Or a few.
Breathing out any tensions,
Any tightness.
And relaxing the face,
Let it be soft.
Now if you like you could place one hand on the heart area,
And start connecting to that.
Just feeling the area of the heart,
Maybe the heartbeat,
Without any expectation.
So compassion in Sanskrit,
It is karuna,
Is a feeling of the heart,
And it springs forth from being able to forget oneself,
And not being stuck in the mind with worries,
Self-concern,
Greed,
Desires.
Well it comes from an openness and an ability to be with whatever is,
Even suffering,
Even hardship,
An ability to be with it,
And see it as it is.
And at the same time still being connected to the self of just being.
So there's two steps in this classical karuna,
Compassion,
Meditation.
First there's an acknowledging of the suffering there is,
And the second step is to wish for healing,
Wish for relief.
So let's begin and start looking and practicing.
The best way to start is maybe to think,
Start thinking of someone that you know that is obviously suffering.
So maybe you know some neighbor that has maybe physical problem,
Or a friend,
Or a family member that you already know has some sort of suffering.
It can be small,
It can be huge.
So pick one of those,
Of those people,
Or the one person that you know,
And start to imagine what it's like for them to have this suffering.
Imagine what it's like physically,
How it feels,
And mentally or emotionally,
What worries they may have,
And how they may feel emotionally about it.
So really connect to them the best you can and acknowledge their hardship.
It's like inwardly saying,
I see your suffering,
I see your ordeal,
I know it is there.
And then from there start wishing,
May you find relief,
May you be free from this suffering.
Wishing from your heart,
All the best,
May you be free from suffering,
May you be happy and well.
So hold them in your heart and mind like this for a bit.
And then we'll move on.
So now next step is to reflect on our own suffering.
So maybe at first you may say,
Oh I'm okay,
But let's have a closer look.
Maybe there is an obvious thing that you struggle with.
So just start reflecting on the ways in which you experience suffering,
Stress,
Tension,
Anger or other emotions,
Difficult emotions.
Maybe loneliness,
Or maybe there's a big physical challenge,
Or maybe a small one.
So take time to just acknowledge this.
Yes,
In ways life is not always easy at the moment.
There is the stress of life,
Acknowledging it,
Seeing it and accepting it.
It's like that.
So accepting not in a sense that you're not allowed to do anything,
But more that just you know it is there,
You don't deny,
You don't fight the fact.
And then being able to be with that,
Make yourself very spacious.
So this already brings some relief.
So and then the compassion is very natural.
May I be free from this stress?
May I be free from suffering?
Wishing yourself well.
May I be free from suffering?
May I be happy and well?
Calmly and warmly wishing yourself the best.
And then we'll move on to the next person.
So now you can reflect on the suffering of someone dear and near to you.
So just pick anyone that you're really fond of.
A friend,
A family member,
It might even be a pet if you live with a pet that you are fond of.
And then once you've picked a dear person or pet,
Start reflecting on the ways they experience stress and suffering.
Maybe it's a little guessing here,
You don't really exactly know,
But you may know something,
Maybe a physical challenge,
A pain,
A difficulty.
And otherwise insecurity,
Fear,
Sadness,
Maybe a problem with a relationship.
And just imagine best you,
The best you can,
How it feels,
How it must be to struggle like that.
Don't make it bigger,
Just imagine the feelings.
And then from there,
As you can say,
I see you suffering,
I see your difficulty,
I know it is there,
It's part of your life.
Then you can say,
May be free from this suffering,
May you find relief,
May you be happy and well and live in peace.
And we'll leave this dear person behind to move on to the next one,
Which will be a neutral person.
So which means someone that you know very little of,
Someone you only know by face,
You only know their existence,
But you don't know anything about their personal circumstances,
You have no relationship with them in that sense.
So pick someone like that,
Maybe a shopkeeper,
A passerby.
And then start just imagining that also this person will have some sort of suffering,
That is life.
There must be some physical challenges,
Maybe they don't sleep well,
Or maybe you have seen that they have something,
Maybe that you could see they have a cold,
Or maybe you could see they're getting old.
Then they also experience the stress of life,
Having to make a living,
Maybe family matters,
Maybe insecurity,
Self-doubt.
So in your heart acknowledge this,
Yes,
You also experience the stress of life,
The stress of the body.
And then wishing,
May you be free from this suffering,
May you find relief,
May you be happy and well.
With your whole heart wishing the best.
Now from this neutral,
So-called neutral person,
We'll move on to a difficult one,
Which means someone that you have some difficulty with in yourself.
So maybe someone you're annoyed with,
Someone you have judgments about,
Someone you fear,
In any case someone that doesn't just raise pleasant feelings when you think about them.
So pick someone like that,
It can be subtle even,
Pick someone like that and then start to put yourself in their situation,
In their life.
Imagine the physical problems,
Maybe you know about them,
A pain,
A tiredness,
Or a worry about their physical state.
And think,
Think about other mental emotional problems,
The stress,
The insecurity,
The fear,
The striving.
And there may be things that you don't even know about.
Maybe someone's been rude to them,
Put them under pressure,
And so on.
So just especially with this,
People you are annoyed with,
Then it's important to imagine that they also experience the stress of life.
And say inwardly,
I see it,
I see your suffering,
I know it is there,
Nobody's exempt from this.
And wishing,
Maybe free from suffering,
May you find relief,
May you be happy and well,
In your own way wishing the best for them,
May you be at peace.
So these were the different categories that we work with,
But now to close the meditation,
We may reflect for a while on the suffering of mankind.
There's no life without difficulties,
There's no body without pain or sickness sometimes,
Without discomfort.
So reflect on how everybody's living their own struggle,
The moments of happiness and the moments of pain,
Fear,
Confusion,
Mistakes,
Injustice.
We all face it,
Sometimes a little,
Sometimes huge,
Can be rarely or almost all the time.
And just reflect on this.
Yes,
I see the suffering in the world,
I know it is there.
Breathing with it,
Make yourself very spacious to hold this suffering,
To acknowledge it.
And then wishing maybe free from suffering,
May all beings,
All people be free from suffering,
May they find relief,
May they be at peace.
Feeling the warmth and the care of Corona,
Compassion.
May all the beings,
All people be happy and well.
And if you like,
You can also reflect on the suffering of animals around the world,
Pets but also wild animals,
Especially nowadays in the wild.
They have their little suffering,
Sometimes big suffering,
Their fears,
Their pains,
Farm animals,
Living encaged,
Just acknowledging that yes,
I see the animals suffering.
I can see their pain and fear.
May they find relief,
May they be free from it.
So the wish is very,
Very important.
May they be happy and well and at peace.
Let's take a moment to be in silence now.
Closing the work of Corona meditation,
Just sitting,
Breathing.
May all beings everywhere be happy and at ease.
Sadhu.
