Guided Meditation On Compassion (Karuṇā)

This is a guided meditation on Compassion (karuṇā in Sanskrit). Compassion is one of the Four Immeasurables, a rich compilation of practices that open the heart, counter the distortions in our relationships with ourselves and deepens our relationship with others. The essential nature of compassion is a yearning for the person we are directing our attention to be free of suffering. The object of one’s compassion may be oneself, another human being, an animal, or any other sentient being.

Transcript

Take a moment to find a comfortable posture for this practice.

You're welcome to be either seated or lying down.

The main point is that you choose a posture in which you can be quite comfortable,

And your back is nice and straight.

And then we'll take a few moments initially to settle and relax our body.

First of all,

Bring your awareness into the body,

Connecting with the various sensations that we find from tingling,

Throbbing,

Senses of temperature,

Movements of energy,

Sensations of all kinds,

From the top of the head to the soles of the feet.

And as you attend to the body in this way,

Invite yourself to soften and relax any areas that feel tight or constricted.

Relax the muscles of the shoulders.

Let the belly feel soft.

Feel tension draining from the face,

The forehead,

The space between the eyebrows,

Soft,

Relaxed.

Relax cheeks,

Relaxed jaw.

Let the body be utterly at ease.

And for a while,

While you attend to the various sensations of the body,

Ride the wave of every out-breath,

Feeling your body become more at ease,

More relaxed,

Breath by breath.

And also the mind with every out-breath,

We just release any thought that might be there,

Lying for your attention,

Releasing it with the out-breath,

Allowing it to dissolve back into the space of the mind.

And then we can turn to the practice of karuna,

Compassion.

Compassion in this context meaning very simply the wish that the person or sentient being you're attending to be free of their suffering,

Recognizing that they can be and that they deserve to be.

And so we begin the practice by first of all bringing our attention to ourself as we are here today.

Bringing to mind and recognizing all the ways in which we are still vulnerable to suffering,

Physical and mental.

The ways in which we lose our temper sometimes,

We become upset,

We experience jealousy,

Greed.

And recognizing that these are not an inherent part of us,

They are not who you are.

They're temporary afflictions that arise due to causes and conditions,

Yet they still do arise for now.

And we'd like to be free of them.

And by virtue of simply being a sentient being we deserve to reduce our suffering,

To eventually eradicate our suffering.

We deserve that opportunity.

And so with every out breath breathe out this wish of compassion.

The wish,

May I be free of this suffering.

May I be free of suffering and its causes.

I invite you to imagine,

Visualize yourself becoming free of suffering.

Overcoming these mental afflictions,

These mindsets that hold you back.

Imagine what it would be like,

What it would feel like.

Totally free of suffering.

Don't you want that for yourself?

Arouse that wish.

May I be free of suffering and its causes.

The next part of the practice is to bring to mind someone that you care for very much.

Someone you love.

This could be more than one person if it's difficult to choose one.

Bring them to mind vividly in the space in front of you.

Imagine that they are there.

By knowing this person you know the ways in which they are vulnerable to suffering.

The ways in which they struggle,

They get angry,

Upset,

Hurt,

Frustrated and so on.

The ways in which they compound physical suffering.

Now naturally we love this person very much,

We have compassion for them,

We don't want them to suffer,

We don't want to see them struggle in these ways.

And so it's very easy just by imagining this person in front of you,

Knowing that they suffer.

That spontaneous wish to help for them to be free of suffering is there.

And so connect with that,

Look at this person,

Feel their suffering.

Instead of simply just feeling it,

Let the power of compassion arise.

May you be free of your suffering.

May you find freedom from suffering and the causes of suffering.

And if I can may I help you to do so.

I want to help.

I want you to be free of suffering.

Let your imagination play out,

Imagine this individual becoming free of their suffering.

Coming to understand the inner causes of their suffering and finding freedom.

How would they look,

How would they seem?

Very much arousing that wish,

May it be so.

The next phase of the practice is to bring to mind somebody who we consider neutral.

We don't know them very well,

So we don't have any strong feelings towards them either way.

This could be a distant neighbour you see every now and then,

Somebody at the shop.

A receptionist you once met,

But may never meet again.

Although we have a deep caring for the welfare of those who are close to us,

Those we love,

It's not as spontaneous for those we don't know.

So we take a moment to imagine this person in front of us and consider that this person too,

Just like us,

Just like our loved one,

Also suffers in innumerable ways,

From the same kinds of mental afflictions and physical imbalances.

And although they may not show it to you,

If they were now in front of you,

Suffering,

You would very much want them to be free of that.

We don't want to see people suffer,

And you would want to help.

So arouse that motivation,

That desire,

That compassionate wish.

May you also be free of your suffering and the causes of your suffering.

I want that for you.

And if I can help,

I would do so in a heartbeat.

And you can let your imagination play,

Seeing this stranger become free of their suffering,

The relief on their face,

Experiencing greater peace,

More harmony,

Less unhappiness,

Less stress.

And then we bring to mind somebody to whom we have a more difficult relationship.

And if you're new to this practice,

I very much encourage you to choose somebody you feel comfortable working with,

Not choosing something too traumatic,

But somebody with whom there is conflict,

Perhaps a sense of dislike,

Distrust.

It could be somebody we know personally,

It could be somebody on the global stage.

But we bring this person to mind there,

Vividly in the space in front of us.

And our compassion for this person may definitely not arise spontaneously,

But we can contemplate.

We recognize that this person definitely suffers,

Quite often at their own hands.

Just like me,

And just like my loved one and the neutral person,

They don't want to suffer.

All humans want to be happy and free of suffering,

All sentient beings.

But the way in which this person may go about their happiness and avoidance of their suffering may cause harm to others.

But their behavior is a result of causes and conditions,

The life they grew up in,

The society,

The way they learned to go after happiness and avoid suffering.

They're quite often driven by greed,

Anger,

Jealousy and so on.

And so while we may not like their behavior,

We may have conflict with them,

We recognize that the first person who suffers because of their behavior,

Because of their mind,

Is them.

They suffer greater.

And so we recognize that it is possible for them to reduce and eventually eradicate their suffering.

They don't need to act in these ways through their greed and anger.

And actually if they did,

It would be better for them,

It would be better for everyone.

And they deserve the chance,

They deserve the chance to find the true causes of inner suffering and to overcome them.

And so we arouse that wish,

Recognizing that at our heart we don't wish them to suffer,

We don't want anyone to suffer.

And so we arouse that wish,

May you also find freedom from your suffering and the causes of suffering.

And if I could help,

I would.

And I want to see you suffer.

I want you to be happy.

I want you to be free of your suffering.

I want that for you.

And you can let your imagination play,

Imagine them overcoming those inner causes of suffering,

Finding complete freedom.

How would they look?

How would they act?

How would they behave?

How would their interactions with others be different?

Do not want that for them.

Do they not deserve the chance?

And the final phase of this practice is to extend this wish outwards to those who may live near to you in your home,

In your street,

Your town.

And not just people but other sentient beings too.

All struggling in different ways,

All doing our best,

But succumbing to mental afflictions,

Physical pain.

All capable of reducing that pain and suffering,

And all deserving of it.

And so may it be so,

Extending that wish out further across your country,

Your continent,

Across the whole world.

Above,

Below and across.

May all beings everywhere be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.

And don't pay lip service to it,

But really feel it.

Bring different people to mind.

Imagine them becoming free.

Have that wish for them.

Reviews

Lovely tone and pace. A subject that is close to my heart ❤ thank you 🧘‍♀️

Lovely voice and pace