Hey,
It's Davin.
Thanks for joining me in this sound meditation experience for cultivating compassion.
I'm a singer and a teacher and I'll be guiding our time together today with my voice in both word and sound.
In this practice,
We'll work toward cultivating compassion within our lives.
Compassion is our ability to recognize and respond to the suffering of others,
But maybe most importantly to the suffering within ourselves.
See,
There is this unavoidable truth in that our ability to extend compassion to others is in direct correlation to our ability to extend compassion to ourselves.
We all make mistakes.
We all fall down.
We all suffer,
But how we respond is at the heart of this practice.
Cultivating a compassionate response can seem quite difficult,
But when we do,
It has a naturally expansive outcome.
When we direct compassion toward ourselves,
It has an inevitable influence on our interactions with others and it grows our ability to healthfully respond to the suffering of the world.
Maybe this is all best summed up with the words of one of my favorite mystic teachers,
RuPaul.
If you can't love yourself,
How the hell are you going to love anybody else?
Can I get an amen?
With that in mind,
Let's begin our practice together.
I'd like to invite you to find a comfortable posture or seat.
You may prefer to lie down.
There's no right or wrong way to participate,
But I encourage you to seek a state of alert comfort.
Once you find yourself in that position,
You can either close your eyes or softly gaze at a low point on the horizon.
Once you've settled in,
Let's begin by simply drawing our awareness to our breath,
Allowing it to become quite natural and easy.
See if you can notice where you feel it predominantly,
Maybe in your nose,
Your chest,
Your belly.
Wherever it might be,
When you find that place,
Rest your attention there.
Notice the vitality that each breath offers,
The inhalation and the exhalation,
A mystery and yet also a reminder of the fullness of your life.
Now picture in your mind's eye someone for whom you care deeply.
Notice how their image or presence stir loving emotion within your heart.
Can you also allow yourself to become aware of their sorrow and suffering?
Does your heart desire to extend well wishes or offer comfort or share in their pain?
This is compassion.
This is the compassionate response of your heart.
Now with that person in mind,
Inwardly recite the following.
May you know compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May you be at peace.
May you know compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May you be at peace.
Continue to recite this,
Allowing the phrases to echo throughout your every breath.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
Imagine the one you care for turns their compassion toward you.
They acknowledge the deep suffering and sorrow that you also carry.
With generosity in their eyes,
They repeat the same phrases to you.
May you know compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May you be at peace.
Allow the repetition of each phrase to wash over you like the rise and fall of the tide.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
Now,
Informed by that which you have just received,
Begin to turn these phrases compassionately toward yourself.
May you know compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
Go ahead and release the recitation,
Allowing yourself to enjoy the residue of the practice.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
May you be at peace.
You can now bring your awareness back to your breath,
Inviting it to deepen ever so slightly.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes and take in the world around you.
Maybe notice if it offers a different resonance or a different hue.
Remember we will be able to better see the world through a compassionate lens when we are able to embrace this response within ourselves.
Acknowledging and responding to our own suffering with compassion,
It's a life's practice,
But its yield is abundant.
Thank you so much for practicing with me and sharing in this journey.
When you want to express your monkhood by designing one of your own means,
We need carriage.
Painting?
