The Generosity Of An Open Heart (Dana Parami)

This 18-minute guided practice with Heather Fenton begins with mindfulness of breath in the body and then shifts into a contemplation of generosity (dana). We start with the generosity of giving ourself the freedom to relax — to set aside our roles and responsibilities — and simply enjoy the next inhalation. Generosity becomes love when we give ourselves and others the freedom to be just as we are. This open-heartedness is ultimately mixed with the wisdom of selflessness of all phenomena.

Transcript

So in the first few minutes of the sit, This is a kind of gathering of our attention into the body breathing and out of story or conceptual thought. So we don't need to stop thought, We just take our attention and place it in the breath and we do that again and again. So as the mind wanders, We just bring it back in and feel the softness of the belly, The rising energy of the inhalation, The falling energy of the exhalation. It's a very light kind of movement. If you think of a feather floating down to the ground or a leaf falling off a tree and floating, Floating, Floating, Our attention like this settling onto the breath in a very gentle way. And the object or the what we're noticing about the breath is a direct experience of the body breathing. So rather than an idea about breathing, Or the breath, We're interested in what can be directly felt, Sensed or known. And the first way we could work with generosity, By giving ourselves the space to rest and relax. So right here in our practice right here and now on our cushion, Give yourself complete freedom to just relax, To stop. And we are masters of managing our experience, Managing our expectations, Trying to dial everything in internally and externally. Just a few minutes that we have to practice or even for the next few breaths, Just let go, Just rest. All these ideas about our roles and responsibilities, How we should be, Just set all that aside. Enjoy the next inhalation. This is a generosity. I'm going to give myself just this next breath, Completely free of the burden of self, Me and all my problems, All my responsibilities, The generosity of your attention, The body breathing, The body sitting. Let yourself feel your seat and legs, Your hands, Your back, Your head, Holding yourself with care and curiosity. This is what it's like body breathing. It's always nice if we recall the practice of inner smile, You can just turn the corners of the mouth up anytime, Inviting a warmth, Inviting a bit of lightheartedness, Just in the body sitting, Aliveness, The tingling, Myriad sensations of life, The way you might enjoy delicious food, Enjoy the quality of the next breath. Noticing if you're leaning into the experience or a gentle grasping at the pleasure of the inhalation of the body is relaxed, If you're reasonably comfortable. Noticing if you're holding on to the pleasurable sensation, Can you let the exhalation just wash and release, Allowing yourself to be fully willing to let go to empty out, Making room for the next moment. The next in breath, We understand with generosity that receiving is just as important as giving. As we settle more deeply into the sit, That sense of kind of leaning back or easing back and letting the breath be received in the belly and in the body, There might be a kind of sense of smoothness or resistance, Less, No resistance, No friction, Either way, The breath is just coming and going, The mind is relaxed and open, Complete openness, Generosity of receptivity, Centered on the body breathing, But open to the whole body and the space around the body. You can connect with that sense of openness or clarity or spaciousness in your experience, Perturbed, Unbothered, Gentle and curious. You imagine now what it would be like to be this spacious and open in the busyness of your life, With your family at your workplace, And that this is something to aspire to. It's a kind of generosity, We could give others our full presence and open heartedness, The highest kind of gift, Complete acceptance. It's love is what it is, Allowing everything to be just as it is, To fix or change ourself or others. That's freedom.