Welcome,
This is a guided meditation on the soft butter visualization method,
A gentle yet powerful healing practice taught to Zen Master Hakuin by Taoist Sage Hakuyu.
Hakuin developed this approach after experiencing Zen sickness,
Deep exhaustion brought on by intense austerity and overexertion.
Through this practice,
He discovered a way to restore balance,
Warmth,
And vitality to both body and mind.
It was passed down by a sacred method to restore energy,
Balance,
And health.
When practiced with steady devotion,
This method is said to bring remarkable results,
Reviving vitality throughout the whole being,
Anyone promoting longevity and deep peace.
We will begin with slow conscious breathing to relax the body,
Calm the mind,
Then we will move into the soft butter meditation,
Allowing its warmth and softness to flow slowly through every part of you.
So,
Come into a comfortable position,
Either sitting upright or lying down or reclining.
Allow your body to be supported,
Your hands resting easily,
Your face soft and relaxed,
With a gentle smile on your face.
If you are sitting,
Let the spine be naturally straight,
Not tense,
But lifted,
So that the breath can move easily and deeply.
And if you are lying down,
Remain in a parallel plane,
Straight back,
Even posture.
When the spine is open and free,
The breath can reach all the way down to the lower belly,
The center of your life energy.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in,
And as you do,
Feel your lower abdomen expand outward.
Now gently exhale,
And let the belly fall softly back to its resting place,
And breathe like this for a few more rounds.
Now place one hand lightly over your lower belly,
Just below the navel.
Feel how the breath moves here,
Smooth,
Quiet and alive.
Breathe in,
The belly rises,
Breathe out,
The belly falls,
Breathe in,
Expanding,
Breathe out,
Relaxing back to the center.
Now let the breath become natural,
Unforced,
Easy.
Let the body soften with each exhale.
Let the thoughts drift away.
You are simply here,
Breathing a soft presence at ease.
And now we gently begin the soft butter method.
Imagine a small lump of soft golden butter,
Pure in color and gentle in fragrance,
About the size of a duck's egg,
Resting lightly on the top of your head.
As it begins to warm,
It starts to melt slowly,
Releasing a soothing,
Comforting heat.
Feel it begin to spread,
Moistening and softening the scalp,
The top of the head,
Easing the crown of the head,
Inside and outside both.
And now the butter melts down over the forehead,
Gently moving over the eyes,
The cheeks and slowly down through the chin to the throat.
Feel the gentle warmth melting away any tightness or fatigue.
And now the butter continues to flow,
Oozing down across the shoulders,
Taking its time to reach to elbows,
Both elbows,
Slowly moving to cover both forearms,
The wrists and into the hands,
All the way to the fingertips.
Each muscle,
Each tendon,
Each tiny nerve ending is touched by this warm golden light.
And now feel the butter spreading over the chest,
Softening the lungs to the diaphragm.
It flows deeper,
Warming the liver,
The stomach,
The spleen,
The kidneys and the intestines.
Everything is bathed in calm,
Quiet nourishment.
The butter is also traveling down the spine,
Melting gently through the back,
From upper back to middle back and flowing through the hips,
The pelvis and the buttocks.
And at this point all the heaviness,
The congestion within the body begins to dissolve,
All tension sinking downward,
Like water flowing from a mountain to the sea,
You might even sense a faint trickling sound or sensation,
Feeling of energy flowing downward,
Soothing,
Smooth,
Quiet,
Continuous,
Healing.
Feel this warmth now moves into the thighs and gently towards knees,
The calves,
The shins and taking its time to reach to ankles,
From there it continues to flow into the feet until it gathers softly in the soles of your feet,
Where it rests.
Your whole body is now filled with a gentle radiant warmth,
As if sitting waist deep in a bath of fragrant herbs prepared by a wise healer's hand.
Let everything unnecessary drift downward,
Away,
All fatigue,
All emotion melting and leaving the body in peace.
Now be ready for the second pass,
Deepening the visualization.
See that the same pure golden butter placed at the crown of your head,
It begins again to melt,
Slowly,
Tenderly and as it does,
You feel a wave of quiet pleasure and ease moving through the head,
Within and without.
The butter flows over the forehead,
The eyes,
The cheeks,
The nose,
It slides softly into the shoulders,
Soothing all the small muscles and tendons,
Leaving nothing untouched,
Easing every nerve,
It continues downward,
Through the upper arms,
The elbows,
Taking its time through the forearms,
To the wrist and into both hands,
All the way to the tips of the fingers.
Now feel the butter spread through the chest,
Warming and opening the heart space,
Flowing around the lungs,
Saturating your body,
Flowing to stomach,
Covering the liver and the spine,
The upper spine,
Middle spine,
Lower spine and all other organs in your stomach region,
Including the kidneys,
Gallbladder,
The spleen,
Your entire torso is covered with this soft melting butter,
Inside and outside,
Everything is softening,
Shining,
Now feel this butter descending through the hips,
The pelvis and buttocks,
It flows through both thighs,
Front and back,
Loosening the muscles and nerves and then through the knees,
The shins and the calves,
Finally the warmth pours into the ankles,
Spreads across the top of the feet,
Through the soles and into each toe,
Reaching the very tips,
And now the whole body,
From the ground of the head to the soles of the feet is enveloped in a soft healing butter,
You are completely soothed,
Completely at ease.
The Daoist sage Hakuyu once said,
If this practice is followed with patience and care,
No illness remains uncured,
No virtue unattainable,
No spiritual realization beyond reach.
Whether the results come quickly or slowly,
Depends only on our sincerity of heart.
So rest now within this field of quiet warmth,
This luminous peace that fills you,
Feel the breath more softly in and out,
You're welcome to drift away in sleep,
Thinking about nothing in particular,
And if you wish to,
You can gently begin to return to wakefulness,
We're carrying this warmth,
This serenity and this gentle vitality with you.
