So,
Do your best to sit in a comfortable but conducive position for doing meditation.
So that means mainly trying to keep your back straight.
That helps the mind to be most clear and focused.
So whether you're sitting cross-legged on a cushion or sitting on a chair,
Try to be mindful of that,
Keep your back straight.
But at the same time,
It's important to have a relaxed body as much as possible.
So take a few moments to mentally check your body and look out for any tension you may have.
Sometimes tension collects in the neck or upper shoulders,
Upper back,
Lower back.
So if you do find tension anywhere in your body,
See if you can release it.
Sometimes it's enough just to focus on that point and tell yourself to relax.
Or you could imagine the tension melting and flowing out of you,
Sinking into the earth or evaporating in the air.
So,
One more time.
You And it's also important to have a relaxed mind,
Meaning a mind that isn't busy thinking about things,
Worrying about things,
Planning the future,
Or reminiscing about the past.
So when we meditate,
Ideally we keep our attention in the present on what we are doing right here,
Right now,
Not wandering to the past or the future,
Unless it's part of the meditation that we're doing,
But not just our usual busy thoughts.
So a helpful way to keep our attention in the present is to be aware of the breathing,
The breath coming in and going out,
Because that's happening in the present,
Right here,
Right now.
So when we are observing our breath coming in and going out naturally,
Our attention is in the present.
So as I mentioned,
The first part of the meditation session will be silence,
And you may have your own meditation practice you would like to do during this time.
Feel free to do that.
Otherwise you can use the breath as an object to focus on.
So this is a practice taught by the Buddha,
Meditation on the breathing,
Helps cultivate mindfulness and also introspective alertness,
Awareness.
That means just knowing what is happening in our mind.
So basically you pay attention to the breath coming in and going out,
And whenever you notice your mind has been distracted to something else,
The thought of the past or of the future or some other place or sound,
So anything other than the breath,
Once you notice that,
Let go of that other object,
The distraction,
And come back to the breath.
It can be helpful to remind yourself that thoughts are transitory.
They come and go in our mind,
Similar to the way clouds come and go in the sky.
Clouds are never permanent fixtures in the sky,
But they float through the sky.
They appear,
Pass through,
And then disappear.
No cloud is permanent,
Fixed,
Always there.
So it's similar with our thoughts.
They come and go in our mind.
They're not permanent fixtures,
And so we don't have to take them seriously,
Even if it's an important thought.
We can put it aside until later,
Take care of it later,
But we don't need to think that thought right now.
So think of your thoughts as being similar to clouds.
Put them aside,
Let them go,
And keep returning your awareness,
Your attention to the breath coming in and going out.
And you might want to count your breaths.
That can help keep your mind focused on the breath.
There's different ways of counting.
One way is counting each full inhalation and exhalation as one,
And then you keep counting each full breath,
Either up to five breaths if you're relatively new to meditation,
Or you could count up to ten breaths,
Or even further as you like.
But the counting can help us stay focused on our breathing and in the present moment.
And try not to get frustrated with yourself if your mind does keep wandering away from the breath.
It's really normal.
Our mind by nature is busy.
We have lots of things going on most of the time,
So it's hard to stop that activity.
But we can just notice when our mind is doing something other than watching the breath and turn our attention away from that other thing and bring it back to the breath.
So even if you have to do this again and again,
Try not to get frustrated or impatient with yourself or think that you're a lousy meditator or anything like that.
Try to be calm and patient and just keep coming back to the breath.
You you you you you you you you you you Okay,
So now we'll begin the guided meditation on the topic for today.
So think of a situation where you had an interaction with another person that was difficult or challenging for you and as a result you had difficulty feeling compassion.
Instead of compassion you may have felt something contrary like anger or hurt or maybe you felt ignored or misunderstood or maybe you felt controlled or manipulated,
Maybe even threatened.
And as a result you may have closed down and closed your heart to the other person.
So search through your memories and bring to mind a situation like that and then spend some time recalling what happened,
What the other person said,
What they did,
Expressions on their face,
Their body language,
And also what went on in your own mind,
Your thoughts,
Your feelings,
And how you responded.
You you you you you you you you you you Now go deeper into yourself and see if you can recognize what needs you had in that situation that were not met.
What were your needs that were either ignored by the other person or maybe even ignored by yourself and were unmet,
Unfulfilled?
You you you you you and when you do identify those unmet needs and you may realize that the way you reacted in that situation wasn't as skillful as it could have been,
Try to avoid judging yourself,
Beating yourself up for your unskillfulness,
Your failures,
Instead generate compassion for yourself,
Forgive yourself,
Try to see that you were just doing the best you could at that moment.
It was a difficult situation and maybe you were caught off guard not expecting the person to behave the way they did,
Not expecting how it would affect you.
And the good thing is that now you have an opportunity to learn from that situation and hopefully learn how to do better the next time if you find yourself in a situation like that.
You Now think about the other person and what they did or said that triggered those reactions in your own mind.
And ask yourself,
Do you think they were deliberately trying to hurt you,
Deliberately ignoring your needs or threatening you?
Consider the possibility that they had needs that they were trying to fulfill.
Maybe they were under pressure to complete some job within a limited amount of time and were hoping you could help them.
Maybe they were just not feeling well physically or emotionally and were so caught up in dealing with their own feelings that they were unable to deal with anyone else's.
You you So check to see if reflecting on these possibilities as to why the other person behaved the way they did,
That has an effect on your own mind,
Maybe causing it to soften and to feel some empathy and compassion for the other person.
And finally,
Imagine that you have the chance to relive that situation.
This time with awareness of your own needs and the other person's needs.
How would you do things differently?
You you you you you And finally,
Let's make a mental dedication of the positive energy we have created during the meditation.
So let's mentally share this positive energy with all other living beings,
Wishing that it will bring them peace of mind and happiness and all positive experiences and that it will relieve their suffering and help them progress along the spiritual path and finally reach enlightenment.
