For this practice,
We'll be cultivating even-heartedness.
And specifically in this practice,
We'll focus on moving from even-heartedness as a concept,
An idea,
To an actual felt experience that we can track deep within the body,
Around the heart center,
And in the mind,
Non-conceptually.
So to begin this practice,
Gift yourself the opportunity to come to rest in a comfortable position.
Allowing the eyes to relax.
And gently bring awareness to rest within the three-dimensional space of the body.
And specifically,
Touch into the lived experience of the body,
The sensations and feelings that arise from one moment to the next.
And in an embodied way,
What is it like to experience these sensations and feelings openly?
Observing the lived experience of the body without any partiality.
Releasing attraction and aversion.
And within this experience,
You may begin to notice that there's an opportunity to relax.
To be more at ease.
If so,
Initiate a process of relaxation with the breath as you breathe in welcoming a sense of expansion,
And as you breathe out,
Inspiring a quality of release,
Of letting go,
Softening.
Allagain,
And as we feel this quality of openness permeating more freely across the body,
Establish a quality of openness in relationship to the many activities of the mind.
Let your awareness come to rest in the immaterial space of the mind.
And to the best of your ability,
Letting go of any preference,
Again of any attraction or aversion,
And simply being present with the comings and going of the activities of the mind.
Discerning from your own experience,
What is it like to observe a thought arising,
Persisting and dissolving away without resisting or preferring?
And now upon this foundation of evenness,
In relationship to the experience of the body and mind,
Let's infuse a sense of care,
A sense of care that flows evenly without partiality,
Without bias,
Without prejudice,
A quality of care that can easily manifest into unconditional love,
Unconditional compassion.
And to begin this process,
Arouse your creativity,
Your imagination,
And envision sitting off to your right as someone you love,
Someone you deeply care about,
Someone for which kindness flows easily to.
And as you envision this person,
Either by way of using the mind or envisioning through the body,
Through the felt sense of being in this person's presence,
As you envision this person,
Recognize that like yourself,
Here is a fellow human being who inhabits a body,
Who experiences thoughts,
Memories and desires in the mind.
Recognizing that this person,
Like yourself,
Experiences emotion,
Fear,
Sadness,
Anger,
And at the very center in this place of commonality of our shared experience,
Can you recognize that this person,
Like yourself,
Cares to be well,
Cares to be happy?
Through the faculty of empathy,
Hold this person in heart and mind.
And still with the sense of this person to your right,
Now envision in front,
In the center,
Is a person for whom you have neither strong feelings for or against,
A person that sometimes we refer to as a neutral person.
And see who naturally comes to mind in this regard.
Maybe someone we see frequently,
But that we don't know well.
And once you've established a connection with this person,
Once again,
Like the person that you love,
That you care about very easily,
Recognize here also is a human being,
Like myself,
Inhabits a body.
This person experiences different activities in the mind,
Shifts in perception.
And this person,
Like ourselves,
Feels emotion.
They experience sadness,
Fear,
Anger,
And joy.
And once again,
Recognize that this person,
Like yourself,
Has a natural inclination for well-being.
They care to be happy.
Watch into this common ground through the faculty of empathy,
Feeling with this person.
And now with the loved one to the right,
The neutral person to the center,
To the left,
Bring to mind a person for whom you have had some conflict with,
A person for whom we may disagree,
A person that may trigger a sense of irritation or annoyance.
And once such a person has arisen for you,
Hold them steadily in heart and mind,
And acknowledge here's another human being who inhabits a body,
A person who experiences sensations,
Feelings.
Here is a person like ourselves who navigates the complexity of the mind,
Experiencing different desires.
And here's a person like ourselves who experiences emotion,
They too having their own set of fears,
The experience of loss that triggers sadness.
They experience anger.
And of course,
This person,
Like ourselves,
Experiences enjoyment.
And most importantly,
Can you recognize that here as a human being,
Like ourselves,
Again has a deep inclination for well-being.
With this person.
And now on this even ground of how we relate to the body and the mind,
And with a sense of empathy for someone we care about,
For someone we don't know well,
And for someone who we've experienced some discord,
Conflict with.
Begin to arouse an explicit sense of care that flows in all directions like the sun.
Feel the radiance of this care,
Moving without bias,
Without partiality,
And to arouse the sense of care.
As you breathe in,
You can bring forth your aspiration.
May you be free from difficulty,
From hardship,
From suffering.
And then as you breathe out,
You can also begin to arouse the aspiration.
May you experience well-being.
May you experience openness,
Ease.
As you breathe in and enlisting a sense of compassion as you breathe out,
Extending forth a quality of kindness.
And let these virtues flow evenly while continuing to hold in heart and mind a loved one,
A neutral person,
And someone who has been disagreeable.
Your And if in this exchange you begin to feel an open sense of care,
Even heartedness begins to flow.
Give yourself a moment to rest in that quality.
What does it feel like to have the heart unconstrained by preference,
Partiality?
What does it feel like to have the heart unconstrained by preference,
Partiality?
Again,
Going into the more active exchange of even heartedness,
If you'd like,
Or resting in the quality itself.
And if ever we lose our way,
We can't lose our way.
We can always come back to this common ground,
This inclination we all share,
Caring to be happy,
Having emotions,
Mind,
Being embodied.
And from there,
Opening our hearts.
And before bringing the practice to a close,
If you'd like,
Bring forth an intention for a place in your life where you would like to express even heartedness more freely.
And with this intention,
Let's bring this practice to a close.
