Beginning Anew Loving Kindness Conversation With Thay

This a meditation written as a convervation, where I am talking to Thich Nhat Hanh. I talk to Thay about my thinking, emotions and how we can use the practice of loving kindness and beginning anew with ourselves.

Transcript

Hello dear friend,

And welcome.

I hope you enjoy this meditation,

Which I've written as a conversation with Thich Nhat Hanh or Thay,

And I'd like to thank Thay,

The monastics at Plum Village and the UK Sangha for helping me in my practice and giving me the inspiration to offer this meditation.

I refer to Thay in this practice,

But if you prefer,

You can imagine yourself in conversation with another teacher.

So in a moment we'll begin the practice,

Where I'll invite three sounds of the bell.

I might wake the bell during the meditation to signal different parts of the practice,

And I will conclude the meditation by offering two sounds of the bell.

With body,

Speech and mind in harmony,

I send my heart along with the sound of this bell.

May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness and realise their true home.

This is the bell,

Oma N Robert.

Qists So taking some time to settle into this moment.

Noticing what's present for us right now.

Noticing the thoughts,

Feelings and body sensations that are present.

Acknowledging all that is present,

Be it positive,

Negative or neutral.

As best we can letting go of these things that might pull us away.

We don't need to fight with what's present.

But we can allow these mental formations,

These objects of the mind to fade into the background.

We can offer them our smile.

As best we can bringing our attention to the anchor of the breath.

Notes in our in-breath.

Notes in the landscape of each in-breath.

Notes in each out-breath.

And how each out-breath is unique.

And perhaps noticing the slight pause between each in-breath and each out-breath.

Breathing in,

We are fully aware of each in-breath.

Breathing out,

We are fully aware of each out-breath.

Noticing our connection with what we are sitting on.

And our connection with Mother Earth.

And becoming aware of our connection with each other.

Thay says we are a cell in the Sangha body.

We are connected by our breathing.

Connected by our practice.

Deeply connected on this path.

We hold our parents,

Our family,

Ancestors.

We hold everyone alive in each cell of our bodies,

Of each breath.

Thay is alive in every cell of our bodies.

Working with us.

This is our safe space.

Our island of self.

Knowing this,

We are supported in our practice.

We can return to this safe space anytime we need to.

Just breathing.

Dear Thay,

You taught us that if we have peace in ourselves,

There will be peace in the world.

Peace in oneself,

Peace in the world.

We aspire to practice peace.

We aspire to be peace,

So there can be peace in the world.

Dear Thay,

How can we be more peaceful?

How can we be a beautiful cell in the Sangha body?

A continuation of Thay.

Sometimes I get caught up in the past.

I get tricked by my mental formations.

I'm not mindful of the emotions that are present,

And my habit energies are strong.

Sometimes I'm not kind to myself,

And not able to accept kindness from others.

I do not always see my own Buddha nature,

And I look for this in other people,

In other places.

Dear Thay,

I aspire to look more deeply at the roots of my emotions.

I know that every moment is an opportunity to begin again with myself.

If I notice I'm being unkind to myself,

I will begin again,

Offering myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

I love you,

And if it feels hard to do this,

I can remember I'm not alone.

I sit in my safe space.

If I choose to,

The invitation is to place my hand on my heart,

And if that feels odd or hard to do,

I know I can accept Thay's hand,

Or the hand of a friend placed on my heart,

And offer myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

We love you.

Dear Thay,

I aspire to be kind to myself,

To see myself with the eyes of the Sangha,

And to accept the kindness of others,

To accept gratitude with my Buddha nature,

Accepting it as a cell in the Sangha body,

Accepting it as Thay's continuation.

Dear Thay,

Sometimes I notice irritation,

Anger,

And other unwholesome mental formations arising.

My habit energy can carry me away,

I want to hold on to this irritation,

This anger.

My actions can be influenced by this negative energy.

This could lead me to experiencing feelings of irritation at myself,

And being unkind to myself.

I can feel shame,

Regret,

And other emotions.

I get caught up in the illusion of a separate self.

When I notice this happening,

I know that I can begin again,

And offer myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

I love you.

Dear Thay,

I aspire to take care of these strong emotions.

I know that they can help me,

If I take care of them,

If I welcome them.

They can also be my teacher.

I aspire to look into my irritation and anger,

So I can truly understand and transform it.

When I notice these manifestations arising,

I will sit and breathe with them,

And offer them a smile.

I know I can return to my safe space as I do this,

And offer myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

We love you.

Dear Thay,

Sometimes I can be very judgmental about myself,

About my speech,

My actions,

My body,

My thoughts.

I can also be judgmental about other people.

When I notice these thoughts,

These judgments,

I can feel uncomfortable and guilty.

I know when this happens.

When I notice my judging mind,

I can begin again,

And offer myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

I love you.

Dear Thay,

I aspire to recognise and name my judging mind when it arises.

I will look into the emptiness of these mental formations.

Knowing I am not alone in my practice,

I will look into the Buddha nature of myself,

And the person I am judging,

To transform my judging into kindness and compassion.

And I can offer myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

We love you.

Dear Thay,

I realise my store consciousness carries a negative perception of myself.

When the seed is watered,

I can struggle with fear,

Doubt,

And less confidence.

This fear and doubt can be triggered by events from the past,

And beliefs I've formed about myself.

Also beliefs I've inherited from my ancestors,

And comments I've become attached to in a negative way.

I know the perception I hold of myself that is influenced by so many things is different from the perception other people have of me,

But I find myself holding on to my unwholesome perception of myself.

When I notice this is happening,

I know that I can return to my safe space,

My island of self,

And offer myself the following phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

I love you.

Dear Thay,

When I notice this negative perception is being watered,

I aspire to sit and breathe with it,

Noticing and allowing it to be,

Perhaps noticing how it has been watered.

I know I'm not alone when I do this.

I know you are here,

Thay.

I know the Sangha is here practicing with me.

I can offer myself compassion.

I know I can return to my safe space as I do this,

And offer myself these phrases.

I'm here for you.

We are here for you.

What do you need?

We love you.

We are here for you.

Thank you for your practice.

A lotus for you.

A Buddha to be.

Reviews

Really profound. Simple and sincere, it helped me go within to areas that are hurting.
Thankyou 🙏

Thank you

Beautiful….thank you. 🙏🏻🫶