Daily Naikan Practice

Naikan is Japanese for looking deep inside oneself. It helps us realize how many gifts we receive in life, how many people support us in our lives, what we give back to others and to see with clarity the difficulties that we can cause others. For people who really want to press into living mindfully, Naikan is for you. While it is an appealing practice it can be an uncomfortable one as well. Looking at our behaviors and actions and seeing how they truly affect others is something we rarely do. We are generally more focused on what is being done to us and how we feel about that. In this we can miss seeing things as they truly are. This meditation can be done by anyone, at any experience level, but if you are feeling particularlly vulnerable at the moment about yourself I would suggest practising some loving kindness first and to remember we are all in the same boat. Trying to co-create a world with less suffering for ourselves and others.

Transcript

Hi everyone,

Today we are going to perform a daily nai ken meditation.

Nai ken is Japanese for looking deep inside oneself.

It can help us realize how many gifts we receive in life,

How many people support us,

What we give back to others,

And to see with true clarity the difficulties that we can cause others.

In a nutshell,

It's a reality check.

For people who really want to press into living mindfully,

Nai ken is for you.

While it can be an appealing practice,

It can be an uncomfortable one as well.

Looking at our behaviors and actions and seeing how they truly affect others is something we rarely do.

We are generally more focused on what is being done to us and how we feel about that.

In this case,

We can miss seeing things as they truly are.

For instance,

Our partner might be grumpy with us in the morning and so we can focus on that rather than the fact that they made us breakfast or dealt with a problem so that we didn't have to,

And we can often miss those gifts.

Nai ken proposes three questions.

What have I received?

What have I been given?

And what difficulties may I have caused?

These questions can be applied in many different ways,

But we will be applying them to the last 24 hours.

Some suggest doing this meditation before bed.

I'm going to suggest that you do it in the morning for a couple of reasons.

A.

Looking at the troubles that you caused during the night right before bed might keep you up.

Getting a good night's sleep is self-care that benefits not only ourselves but others that have dealings with us as well.

B.

I believe doing this practice in the morning can make us mindful of how we will live this new day.

It can be a way of setting the intention of our hearts and minds to live more mindfully this day.

For this meditation,

You will need three separate pieces of paper and a pen.

I will give you a few minutes to answer the questions,

But if you find that you need more time,

Simply pause the meditation and continue writing.

Now find a comfortable seated position at a desk or a table and simply begin to connect with your breath.

Your in-breath and your out-breath.

You don't need to change your breath in any way.

Just simply notice each intake and exhale.

Now I want you to turn your attention to our first question.

What have I received in this last 24 hours?

This might include things like love from your pet or someone making you a cup of tea or the contributions of all the people that it takes to make your morning commute possible.

Take a few minutes and write down the things that you have received in the last 24 hours.

I'm just going to make a note of each and every detail that I've received.

You You You You You You Now I want you to turn your attention to our second question What have I given in the last 24 hours?

This might include things like I fed my fuzzy family members and played with them or I held the door open for someone or I did the dinner dishes Take a few minutes and write down the things that you have given in the last 24 hours You You You You You You You Now I would like you to take a few minutes comparing your first two lists Is there anything that you need to add?

If you did the dinner dishes,

Then did you add that you received the gift of dinner from someone else?

Just take a few moments and review and adjust your lists You You You Now I would like you to focus on the final question What difficulties may I have caused in the last 24 hours?

Please be gentle with yourself.

This is supposed to be about facts rather than self-criticism If you cut someone off in traffic,

Simply write down that you cut somebody off in traffic and that maybe you brought difficulty to their day It would be unconstructive if you to write down I am so stupid I cut someone off in traffic again,

And will I ever drive properly?

All of the questions are about facts without judgment and about bringing gentle awareness to our experience so that we may live more mindfully So take a few minutes and write down any difficulties you may have caused in the last 24 hours You You You You You You Now take a few moments to reconnect with your breath Your in-breath,

Your out-breath Breathing in calm and feeling your body relax It can be hard to look at the difficulties we may cause others,

But it's an important practice It is one thing to wish all other beings to be well and to not suffer It's quite another to realize that we can add to other suffering Bringing awareness to this is part of the path of the Bodhisattva I invite you to review your lists over the next few days It can be quite enlightening to realize how much we receive,

How much we contribute,

And when we have been unmindful Sending you all my love and light.

Namaste.

Reviews

This has become a daily morning practice, first doing lists in my head & now using a journal. It has been very enlightening, motivating me to make some healthy changes. Thank you for opening this spiritual path for me.🙏🌺🦋

I’d just read a Tricycle article on Naikan so this talk was very helpful. I can see where the process can appear very simple, while following it can have a profound affect on daily interactions. Thank you for the clear explanation and the gentle encouragement to begin my own reflection. 🙏

Powerful form of meditation. I like it, it’s helpfull, makes me aware on a different level.

This was beautiful and informative, thank you! Namaste 🙏😊

This was different! The 19 minutes flew by and I found the exercises to be helpful.

I love this♥️ Thank you for sharing ♥️♥️

Very good thankyou 💫🙇‍♀️💐

Thank you for this meditative exercise, your soothing voice and the soothing music. I shall enjoy visiting this often.

Very helpful meditation practice. It’s one that keeps on giving. As I reflect on my lists after the practice I can see more and more how I give, take and make things difficult. Thank you.

I very much appreciate this meditation. The writing, however, I did after the meditation. That allowed me to travel through the past 24 hrs. with eyes closed in a very relaxing way. Many thanks!

Thank you. I’ll do this again

This was a helpful journaling exercise. The World could be transformed with this alone.

Absolutely loved this. Puts a lot into perspective. Thank you❤️

Very enlightening!

Thank you. This was very helpful and reassuring. I needed this today!

This was my first intro to this style of practice, what a gift. Thank you 💕

Perfect! Thank you so very much❤️🌺

Excellent mediation for the beginner or lifelong meditator. Loved it!