Greetings to everyone joining today's virtual meditation on the lawn from near and far.
Thank you for coming today.
My name is Anthony DeMauro.
I work with the contemplative sciences center as the associate director of the Dalai Lama Fellows program.
I'll be guiding us all through our meditation today.
Just a few words on what we're going to do together.
It's going to be a meditation on the past,
Present,
And future with a sort of a thread of self-compassion moving through those three times.
And one of the first things I'll invite us all to do is call to mind some past time in each of our lives where you were experiencing a bit of pain and suffering.
And what I might suggest is that just for this meditation,
You don't think of a time that was too difficult in your life,
Maybe not like a rock bottom or a real low point.
With this brief meditation,
We don't want to get overwhelmed or go too deep in the suffering.
But just some time when you're experiencing some challenges or difficulties.
Okay,
All right,
So let us get started by just assuming a comfortable but upright and alert meditation posture.
You're welcome to close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you,
Or you can just lower your gaze,
Soften your eyes a bit.
And then let's get started with just a few deep breaths.
And then after taking those intentional deep breaths,
You can just allow the normal pace of your breathing to return and continue throughout the practice.
And with this being a compassion meditation,
Maybe we'll start with seeing if we can just tune into the heart space,
Moving from the thinking mind,
The intellectual space where we spend so much time and just allowing ourselves to drop down into that feeling heart.
I invite you to really feel into that space,
Tune in to the sensations there.
You don't have to think so much about how it feels there,
Simply feel it.
It can even help to place a hand over that space.
And if you feel or see the mind wandering away,
That's okay.
Simply notice and come on back to that heart space.
Okay,
Now we'll get moving into this past,
Present,
Future meditation by first just calling to mind sometime in your past when you were experiencing some challenges or some pain,
Suffering.
Just imagine that you are with that version of yourself.
And first really just seeing this human being who's experiencing suffering.
See that there might be some unmet needs,
Unanswered questions,
Some challenges.
And from that bearing witness perhaps there is a call to show up for that person,
That human being.
That is compassion.
And so whatever you are feeling called to offer,
Whether it is some words or a gesture to that past version of yourself,
Just take a moment to imagine yourself showing up for that past version of yourself in a compassionate way.
Then we'll let go of that experience and begin bringing our awareness to the present self.
We can take a moment to just connect with this current space that we're in and just behold your current experience and see that there may still be some pain,
Some suffering,
There may still be some unmet needs,
Unanswered questions,
General challenges that you're facing.
And as you begin to bear witness to your own suffering,
Just allowing for some space to open up,
Where you can meet yourself with compassion,
With a tender,
Caring heart,
Showing up for yourself in this moment in whatever way feels natural to you.
Again,
It might be a gesture,
Might be some words,
Perhaps both.
Just take a few moments to tend to yourself in this moment.
And as you begin to bear witness to your own suffering,
Just allowing for some space to open up,
Just allowing for some space to open up,
Just allowing for some space to open up,
Some vision of a future self.
This is a future self who has begun to realize and embody some of your deepest held values and noblest intentions.
Perhaps you can think of it as like a higher self of sorts.
And this future self is an embodiment of compassion.
In this part of the meditation,
We're actually going to receive compassion from this future version of ourselves.
But first I'll invite you to just get familiar with that future version of yourself.
What are they like?
How do they feel?
What's it like to be in their presence?
And now see if you can open yourself up to receive all that compassion that they have to offer in whatever form they may offer it.
Can we allow ourselves to be held in that boundless compassion?
And then in the final part of this practice,
See if we can maybe bring the past and the present,
The future,
All together where they intersect in this so precious present moment of now.
And we can see that there is no future without the past and the present.
There is no past without the present and future.
See if you can simply abide in this moment where all three meet.
And again,
Inviting compassion into this space.
Thank you.
And as we transition out of this practice,
Maybe we can just tune back into the heart space one more time and just check in,
See what it's like now.
And however it feels is totally how it's supposed to feel right now.
So just,
You bring some gratitude there.
Offer some gratitude for yourself for showing up to this practice.
And as you're ready,
You can begin to open your eyes or bring some gentle movements to your body.
And that concludes today's virtual meditation on the lawn.
We thank you for coming and we hope to see you again next week or any Monday for the following months.
Same time,
Same place.
All right.
Thank you all.
Take care.
Atomic Amos.
