Cultivating Deep And Vast Compassion #2 β Intermediate Practice
by Ajahn Achalo
In 'level 1' in this series of Compassion Meditations, we practiced how to hold Compassion for Oneself, a Friend and a Neutral person. In level 2, we are increasing our capacity by including more friends, more neutral people, and also 1 'difficult person.'
Transcript
Developing true,
Deep and vast compassion,
Guided meditation level 2.
We commence by doing a body sweep and establishing mindfulness of breathing.
So bringing your attention to the sitting posture.
Aware that you are sitting.
Knowing the felt experience,
Feeling the feeling of your bottom pressing against the mat or the chair or the cushion.
Sitting with an erect posture.
Not too tense,
Not too loose.
Wakeful.
Taking a few deep breaths.
Breathing in deeply a few times.
Filling the lungs.
Breathing in,
Bringing fresh energy into the present moment.
And breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Putting the past down.
Dropping any tension.
Bringing your awareness now to the top of the head.
Simply aware of any feelings on the surface of the skin.
Moving the awareness down the forehead and face.
Relaxing any tension.
Feeling the sides of the head.
The ears.
Then the back of the head.
Aware of any feelings or sensations at the back of the neck.
Then the front of the neck.
Now aware of the shoulder area.
Relaxing any tension.
Sweeping your mindful awareness down the area of the back.
The upper part of the back.
Over the shoulder blades.
The middle part of the back.
And the lower back.
Over the buttocks.
And once again feeling the weight of the body pressing on the mat.
Becoming grounded.
Aware.
Awake.
Yet relaxed.
Bringing the awareness back up to the shoulder area.
Now moving the awareness down your right arm.
The upper arm.
And over the elbow.
Then down the lower arm.
The wrist area.
The palm of the right hand.
Including the fingers from the base to the tips.
And finally feeling the feelings of the back of the hand resting in the other hand or on your lap.
Simply aware.
Once again bringing the awareness back up to the shoulder area.
Now moving the awareness down your left arm.
The upper arm.
And over the elbow.
Then down the lower arm.
The wrist area.
The palm of the left hand.
Including the fingers from the base to the tips.
And finally feeling the feelings of the back of the left hand resting in the other hand or on your lap.
Simply aware.
Bringing the awareness back up to the shoulder area.
Moving your awareness down over the chest.
Aware of any sensations.
Then down over the stomach area.
No judgments.
Simply aware of the feelings.
And now down over the abdomen.
The lower abdomen.
The groin area.
And once again feeling the body pressing against the floor or the mat or the chair.
Now moving the awareness slowly down your right leg.
Sweeping awareness over the top and lower parts of the thigh.
The knee area.
Front and back.
Now sweeping the awareness down the lower leg.
The shin.
Then over the calf muscle area.
Aware of the ankle.
Bringing the awareness over the top of the foot.
Then include the toes.
And finally simply being aware of any feelings in the area of the sole of the right foot.
And once again bringing the awareness back to the buttocks area.
Just feeling the body sitting.
Now moving the awareness slowly down your left leg.
Sweeping awareness over the top and lower parts of the thigh.
The knee area.
Front and back.
Now sweeping the awareness down the lower leg.
The shin.
Then over the calf muscle area.
Aware of the ankle.
Sweeping the awareness over the top of the foot.
Then including the toes.
And finally simply being aware of any feelings in the area of the sole of the left foot.
Now gently bringing your awareness to the tip of your nose.
Setting the intention to be aware of the feelings involved with in and out breathing.
Knowing the entire in-breath as it comes in through the nose,
Down through the chest and into the abdomen.
Then the entire out-breath.
Abdomen,
Chest,
Nose.
If it is helpful you can use a mental recitation in conjunction while aware of the feelings.
Breathing in,
But.
Breathing out,
Do.
Butto.
The butta.
Mindful,
Aware,
Awake.
Mindfully knowing.
The feelings of the in and out breath.
The entire in-breath.
And the entire out-breath.
Practice this breath meditation for the next couple of minutes simply being mindful of the feelings involved in in and out breathing.
Breathing in,
But.
Aware.
Breathing out,
Do.
Mindfully aware.
Breathing out,
Do.
Mindfully aware of the feelings involved in in and out breathing.
Before moving on to the compassion section of this meditation where we become more aware of the suffering aspect of conditioned experience.
It is important to establish the heart of loving kindness.
A quality of goodwill.
Of unconditional love.
So while still aware of the breath,
We will now generate powerful goodwill in the area of the heart.
Breathing in,
Making the sincere wish,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
Wishing,
May I be happy.
Allowing a warm feeling of loving acceptance to fill the heart area.
Generating kind wishes and deep goodwill.
Breathing in,
Making the sincere wish,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
Wishing,
May I be happy.
If it is useful,
You can also visualize metta as golden light.
Filling the heart area while you generate and radiate.
A quality of unconditional love and acceptance.
Which also wishes the very best.
Breathing in,
Making the sincere wish,
May I be well.
The warmth of metta,
The golden light of metta,
Filling the heart.
Breathing out,
Wishing,
May I be happy.
The golden light spreading,
Filling the chest area.
The warmth of loving kindness,
Metta,
Filling your heart area.
The upper chest and your upper body.
Compassion for oneself.
Having generated some mindful clarity and goodwill in the heart.
We will now continue on to our main theme.
We are going to be mentally reciting a few simple phrases in conjunction with the in and out breath.
May I be free from suffering on the in breath.
And may I be well on the out breath.
While still being aware of the breath for the next minute or so,
I'd like to encourage you in doing a little inner reflection before we pick up these phrases.
It is important to acknowledge the very common human experience of suffering before wishing ourselves to be free from it.
It is also important to recognize deeply that we can ultimately be free from it.
To empower this deep wish with the power of truth.
So just asking yourself sincerely now,
Without any judging at all,
Just making an honest inquiry.
Do I currently have any suffering in my life?
We have to be careful here not to fall into any particular details or the story line.
We are simply trying to connect with the truth of conditioned experience.
So the question we ask ourselves now is,
And what is this suffering like?
How does it feel?
So what I am now asking of you here is to make the sincerest wish from the deepest reservoir of the heart that you can access.
May I be free from suffering.
Not thinking about the details,
Restrain falling into sorrow.
Remembering that at this stage we don't actually need to fix anything.
Simply aware of the fact of pain,
Frustration and challenges.
And then wholeheartedly making the wish,
May I be free from suffering.
Now picking up the mental recitation and sincerely meaning this as you gently,
Mentally recite on the in-breath,
May I be free from suffering.
And on the out-breath,
May I be well.
Oftentimes we try to avoid these feelings or push away the felt experience.
But many people find that through becoming more aware of these feelings,
This shared human experience and opening the heart with this cool,
Compassionate wish,
That a new sense of courage and space can open up in the mind.
While we understand that we might not be able to resolve all of the challenges which we face at present,
On another level we are affirming a deeper potential.
Freedom from all suffering is definitely possible.
It is our deeper potential.
Also,
Responding to pain with this kindest of wishes can feel very supportive.
The pain can be seen,
Known and cared for.
And so while holding this awareness of suffering with true care and with patience,
Not contending,
We are also gently affirming a deeper nature and determining to let go of the causes of suffering once we can.
So again,
Being aware of the fact of suffering and how this human experience feels,
And then sincerely wishing for freedom.
Breathing in,
May I be free from suffering.
Breathing out,
May I be well.
Embracing the experience with coolness and with deep kindness.
Aware of this human predicament without any judgement.
The heart melts and bathes this pain with loving care.
And the encouraging affirmation of true potential.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be well.
Continue with this for about a minute or so,
Fully aware.
Thank you.
Metta.
It can be useful after practicing compassion to return to some loving kindness practice for a couple of minutes.
Re-establishing the warmth of goodwill.
Unconditional love.
And holding this in the heart and chest area.
Before continuing on.
And so simply wishing on the in-breath,
May I be well.
And on the out-breath,
May I be happy.
Allowing the warmth of loving acceptance.
Of pure goodwill.
Of unconditional love.
To fill your heart.
Wishing on the in-breath,
May I be well.
And on the out-breath,
May I be happy.
May I be well.
Breathing in,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
May I be happy.
Breathing in,
May I be well.
A few dear people.
Bringing to mind now,
Several people who you care for.
Perhaps a couple of dear old friends.
A family member.
A teacher.
A neighbor.
A small group of lovely people for whom you have a high regard.
Perhaps they have helped you this life.
See all of these people before you now.
Say around ten people.
Mindful that these people's lives are touched deeply also.
By the condition of unsatisfactoriness.
There are frustrations and challenges.
And there is pain.
Big and small.
Think how wonderful it would be.
To see these dear people to realize freedom from all suffering.
Setting the strong intention to bless their mind streams.
With powerful altruistic wishes.
And the cooling balm of deep compassion.
Breathing in,
Bathing your own inner world.
Inner experience.
May I be free from suffering.
And on the out-breaths,
Breathing out.
Creating the cool energy of a mind imbued with compassion.
Towards these dear people.
May these dear people be free from suffering.
Breathing in sincerely wishing,
May I be free from suffering.
Breathing out,
May each of these dear people be free from suffering.
I'll be doing with this for a minute or so.
Thank you.
Now we return to just the awareness of breathing.
Taking some time to clarify,
To sharpen mindfulness of feelings involved with in and out breathing.
We do this to rest,
To settle,
To come inwards a little.
And prepare for the next step.
Breathing in aware of the feelings of the in-breath,
Nose,
Chest,
Abdomen.
Breathing out aware of the feelings involved with the out-breath,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Nose.
You can use mental recitation if you find it helpful.
Breathing in,
Bhut.
Breathing out,
Do.
Simply aware of the breathing.
Mindfully aware.
Allowing the mind to rest inwardly,
Aware of the feelings.
Breathing in,
Bhut.
Breathing out,
Do.
Simply aware of the feelings.
Breathing in,
Bhut.
Some guardian devas.
Many people have some faith in the existence of devas or angels.
Kind,
Benevolently disposed beings in parallel realms or high heaven realms.
Many such beings wish humans well.
The Visuddhi Magga,
A respected ancient commentary,
Explains that if we think of them with kindness or loving regard,
They become aware of us too,
And think of us as well.
Although currently experiencing the fruits of good deeds,
Most of the devas,
Like us,
Will experience death and rebirth,
And will meet with some suffering.
So we wholeheartedly wish them well,
In this life,
And in the future,
Until liberation.
Bringing some devas to mind.
Feel confident that there are some devas,
With a close karmic affinity,
Who you can share compassionate blessings with now.
It may seem difficult to visualize them.
Never mind.
The word devata means bright,
Or radiant ones.
So just having a sense of a few bright beings,
Radiating light,
Somewhere above.
And now we wish them well,
From the bottom of our hearts.
Breathing in,
May I be free from suffering.
Breathing out,
May this group of devas be free from suffering.
May I reduce,
Then completely relinquish,
All causes of suffering.
And may these devas progress along the path to freedom from all suffering.
Breathing in,
May I be free from suffering.
Breathing out,
May this group of devas be completely free from suffering.
Continuing with this for a minute or so.
Thank you.
Metta.
Once again,
After practicing radiating compassion,
It can be useful to return to some loving kindness practice for oneself,
For a couple of minutes.
Re-establishing the warmth of goodwill,
Of unconditional love,
And holding this in the heart and chest area,
Before continuing on.
Wishing on the in-breath,
May I be well,
And on the out-breath,
May I be happy.
The golden light,
The warmth of loving acceptance,
Of pure goodwill,
Of unconditional love,
To fill your heart.
Wishing on the in-breath,
May I be well,
And on the out-breath,
May I be happy.
Breathing in,
May I be well,
And breathing out,
May I be happy.
Thirt-y.
Breathing in,
May I be well,
And breathing out,
May I be happy.
Several.
Several neutral people.
Try to bring to mind now several people for whom you might ordinarily feel neutral towards.
A cleaning lady,
A janitor,
A shop attendant,
A distant cousin,
Someone you pass on the street or see on the bus or train.
These kinds of people.
Select several people and see them before you now.
And just as we've done before,
We acknowledge the existence of pain,
Frustration and difficulty in human experience.
And we consciously respond to this with altruism,
With compassion.
Radiating this cool,
Caring attitude and energy inwards on the in-breath and outwards to these people on the out-breath.
Breathing in,
May I be free from suffering.
Breathing out,
May these people be free from suffering.
Breathing in,
May I be free from suffering.
Breathing out,
May these neutral people be completely free from suffering.
Thank you.
This will serve you well also,
With less reactivity and more impartiality,
With the capacity to look at our shared experience rather than things which seem to separate.
Once again,
After practicing compassion,
It can be useful to return to some loving-kindness practice.
Re-establishing the warmth of goodwill,
Loving acceptance,
Unconditional love,
And holding this in the heart and chest area before continuing on.
Using our mental recitation,
Breathing in,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
May I be happy.
Allowing the warmth of loving acceptance,
Of pure goodwill,
Of unconditional love to fill your heart.
Wishing on the in-breath,
May I be well,
And on the out-breath,
May I be free from suffering.
On the out-breath,
May I be happy.
Breathing in,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
May I be happy.
Allowing the warmth of loving acceptance,
Of pure goodwill,
Of unconditional love,
To fill your heart.
Breathing out,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
May I be happy.
Allowing the warmth of loving acceptance,
Of pure goodwill,
Of unconditional love,
To fill your heart.
Breathing out,
May I be well.
Breathing out,
May I be happy.
Allowing the warmth of loving acceptance,
Of pure goodwill,
Of unconditional love,
To fill your heart.
The Difficult Person Understanding the importance of training the Brahma-Vihara qualities,
Such as compassion,
To become impartial and boundless,
We must learn to include the category of people who we might ordinarily find it difficult to fill tenderness or affection for.
Oftentimes,
The people who we find it difficult to care for are the people who may have harmed us somehow,
Or others who we know and care for.
May I suggest that you don't bring to mind the most challenging person first.
May I suggest that you don't bring to mind the most challenging person first.
Thinking of one difficult person,
And bringing them to mind.
For the purpose of this meditation,
Try not to think of the details of the harm and pain they've caused,
But rather the simple fact that they too suffer.
Remembering that we are not aiming for affection here.
What we are aiming for is a caring concern,
And a benevolent altruistic wish.
This caring wish is supported by the wisdom which understands that all current traits and appearances can change with time,
And that all beings,
No matter how frightening or unkind,
Have the potential to change,
Improve,
And eventually to be liberated.
When we radiate the compassionate wish to such beings,
We are also helping ourselves to have wholesome and bright mind states that produce useful merits.
Falling into fear,
Or anger,
Or resentment,
No matter how justifiable it can seem,
Is actually painful for oneself.
It's fine to have loving kindness towards oneself and others regarding whatever traumas we or they may have experienced due to this person.
But with compassion meditation,
We are learning to include everybody.
With the compassionate wish,
We are freeing ourselves from painful,
Negative responses,
And taking the higher path.
So bringing to mind now someone who you do or have found difficult,
And then simply wish the very same that you wish for yourself,
To be free from every type of suffering.
Considering that if this person could free themselves from the qualities of greed,
Hatred,
And delusion,
Then all harmful actions and speech would immediately cease.
So we wish this for ourself,
And for this challenged person as well.
Breathing in making the wish,
May I be free from suffering.
And breathing out,
May this other person be free from suffering.
Allow the fullness and coolness of compassion to radiate waves of pure goodwill to this person.
See this transforming energy as being like white light flowing through darkness.
Breathing in making the wish,
May I be free from suffering.
And breathing out,
May this other person be completely free from suffering.
Try to continue this for a minute or so now.
Radiating the cool compassion inwards,
Filling your heart and chest area on the in-breaths,
And then radiating it out to this other sentient being on the out-breath.
If the rising light helps you,
That's fine.
May I be free from suffering,
May I be well.
May this person be completely free from suffering,
May they be truly well.
Continuing for a minute or so.
Radiating the cool compassion inwards,
Filling your heart and chest area on the in-breath.
When you return to this meditation in the future,
You may wish to include several people from this category,
Develop the capacity to wish beings well impartially,
And work up to the most challenging over time.
But for now,
Returning to just the awareness of oneself and re-establishing some loving kindness.
Having generated metta for oneself,
Then deep compassion,
The altruistic wish to be free,
We've then included other dear friends,
As well as several neutral people,
And a challenging person.
Well done.
In a few more minutes,
We will end the meditation session.
It is important to close properly.
Returning to some loving kindness practice for a couple of minutes,
Re-establishing the warmth of goodwill,
Unconditional love,
And holding this in the heart and chest area.
This goodwill for oneself is the necessary foundation for cultivating true and deep compassion for oneself and eventually all beings.
Healthy self-care and self-interest is not the same as selfishness or self-cherishing.
It is the foundation that supports and inspires the sincere efforts and practices that will liberate from duality and lead to the realization of not-self.
For if we truly care,
We will work in order to better our situation.
So once again we re-establish this wholesome,
Good heart as a support to our life and practice.
Wishing on the in-breath may I be well,
And on the out-breath may I be happy.
Allowing the warmth of metta,
Pure goodwill,
Unconditional love,
To fill your heart.
Wishing on the in-breath may I be well,
And on the out-breath may I be happy.
Breathing in may I be well,
Breathing out may I be happy.
Wishing on the in-breath may I be well,
And on the out-breath may I be happy.
Mindfulness of breathing before finishing the meditation we will return to the mindfulness of breathing practice brahma vihara based practices such as metta and compassion can sensitize the mind considerably and so it can be helpful to sharpen the mindfulness now knowing the feelings in the body in more detail more clearly can have a pleasant grounding effect upon the mind and so bringing our attention to know the feelings involved in in and out breathing try to know the entire in breath and the entire out breath be aware of the feelings of the in breath coming in at the nose down through the chest and into the abdomen and the feelings of the out breath out the abdomen chest and nose and nose putting down perceptions of self and other and simply knowing feelings in the body feelings associated with the in and out breathing you can use buddho if you find this helpful breathing in buddho breathing out buddho aware of the feelings doing this for a minute or so before we make some final dedications cherishful aspiration.
Practicing meditation in these ways produces wholesome karma or merit.
It is very good to dedicate merits and to make aspirations,
Particularly after a long session of meditation when the mind has more clarity and power.
Since this has been primarily a compassion-based practice,
Let's dedicate the merits to all beings everywhere.
I dedicate the merits of this practice to all beings everywhere.
May we all grow to be completely free from every type of suffering.
It is good to work on the first level of this practice for some time.
Truly learning how to hold compassion in your own heart deeply.
Then sincerely including a couple of others.
After this working through level two regularly and repeatedly holding greater numbers of beings in this cool altruistic heart.
Finally we work diligently on the third level which is advanced.
As learning to include all beings,
Especially all of the difficult ones,
Will be very transformative and beneficial to your spiritual cultivation.
We learn to see all beings as equal in the experience of suffering and equal in their potential to be free from it.
Eventually we will come to see that all beings have the same ultimately empty non-being nature.
And even after this we will be even more kind.
Wishing you every success in your cultivation.
Be well.
5.0 (259)
Recent Reviews
Ruth
July 29, 2025
Wonderfully skillful and deep practice .ππΌβ€οΈ
Eduardo
March 3, 2024
I appreciate the simplicity. The tone, cadence, and structure. It is a genuine practice not the explanation of one. Thank you.
Pamela
January 7, 2023
Wonderful guided meditation on cultivating compassion for self and others in the service of overcoming limited thinking and itβs resilient suffering. Very highly recommended.
Sherri
June 12, 2022
Awareness of suffering within us all, may we be free of suffering, may we be well, may we be happy. I enjoyed this connection with Metta. Thank you.
Rhona
May 15, 2022
The pacing was wonderful- the practice showed me where I have some stuck ness- and I'm encouraged to repeat this meditation. Thx you.
David
November 29, 2021
π
Anne
November 17, 2021
Thank you so much for this adventure. I am very grateful for your teachings.
RenΓ©
September 30, 2020
just deeply beautiful and empowering. Thank you so much!!
Dominique
September 5, 2020
Intensive training. Thank you Ajahn Achalo π
Stephen
July 2, 2020
Thank you for guiding me and others through these important practices.
Virginia
June 13, 2020
This series of meditations will change you: I know it is working changes in me.
Priya
June 6, 2020
Much needed session in these challenging times. Thank you π
Nik
April 22, 2020
Truly wonderful and beneficial. The best metta practice I ever did. Thank you so much dear Venerable Ajahn Achalo and may you too be free from every type of suffering. May you find peace and liberation in every moment. Much love ππ»
Juanita
January 6, 2020
Glorious! Thank you! πΈ
Sherene
December 12, 2019
Such a beautiful practice that takes me to the deepest state of stillness that I am able to experience. Thank You ππΌ
Ruth
September 30, 2019
Thank you Ajahn π It was worth waiting for. With Metta Ruth
Patty
September 30, 2019
Thankyou Dear Ajahn for making these inspiring lessons available to us! πππππ
Lucille
September 28, 2019
Very gentle. Clear guidance filled with compassion for self and others.
Nick
September 27, 2019
That was so powerful. Iβm really glad I went back to listen to your two talks and do the level 1 meditation first. I will be coming back to this often, as I had been creating suffering in my life from my rage towards someone I believed had wronged me. And now I see I was creating suffering for myself, and it is through growing my own compassion that I will free myself from the pain of these shackles. Bless you.
Ursula
September 27, 2019
A wonderful supporting and healing guidance - THANK YOU SO MUCH dear Ajahn Achalo - be well and happy - with love and light ππ½πππ½