So we'll start just by doing a body scan to bring ourselves into the space and relax our bodies.
We'll have some time for calm abiding meditation.
And then for the motivation,
I'd like to read to you a story written by someone who is in prison and that will help guide our analytic meditation.
So quite a full program,
So just follow along for the ride.
We'll start just by connecting with our bodies in the space and bringing our attention to our breath.
So let's begin just by feeling our body in contact.
Connect with a chair or cushion.
Connecting with our feet or our knees on the ground.
And checking that your spine is straight.
If you like,
You can have your right hand over your left with your thumbs touching,
Resting in your lap that can help the flow of energy in the body.
You can tuck your chin in very slightly so your neck is aligned with your spine.
And rest your tongue against your upper palate where you'd put it if you said the word mind.
And if you find you tend to get drowsy,
You can keep your eyes very slightly open.
Not looking at anything specific,
But just to let some light in.
But if that's painful or difficult,
You can also have your eyes closed.
So let's start by bringing our attention to our feet.
Releasing any pain or attention we might find there.
Relax your ankles.
Relax your calves.
Relax your knees.
Relax your thighs.
Relax into your sit bones.
Relax your lower back.
Relax your belly.
Relax your upper back.
Relax your chest.
Relax your arms.
Relax your hands.
If you carry a lot of tension in your shoulders,
You can lift them up to your ears and release them with an out breath.
You can do that a couple of times.
Relax your neck.
Relax your facial muscles.
Relax the top of your head.
Now with our bodies in this relaxed position,
Let's try and imagine what it might be like to have minds that are also completely relaxed,
Free from any craving or grasping,
Anger or ignorance.
We can generate a wish for ourselves and other beings to attain such a state of freedom.
And so now that we've spent some time settling our bodies and steering our minds in a virtuous direction,
We're going to do some calm abiding meditation where we rest the mind on a single object to help to calm it down and train it to focus.
So you can pick the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe as the object or the in and out sensation of air at your nostrils.
Or if you're familiar with the image of the Buddha,
That can be your object too.
So settle the mind on one of these and anytime the mind wanders away,
Notice it and just bring your mind back gently and firmly to rest on your breath or an image of the Buddha.
If you like,
You can count your breaths as well.
Noting the number one after the breath and then two and so forth up to ten and then going back and starting again.
So now that we've spent some time calming and focusing the mind,
We're going to use our concentration as a tool to help us to increase our ability to be of benefit.
We don't cultivate calm and focus just to feel peaceful within ourselves,
But as a way to sharpen our wisdom and strengthen our compassion.
So now we'll turn to contemplating some of the things that can get in the way when we try to be of benefit and help others.
And as the motivation for this portion,
I thought to read to you a story written by someone in prison and then read contemplate how that relates to our own experience in our lives.
So this person writes,
Two or three years ago,
I made a decision to help other people since I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to be doing.
Basically my question was,
Since we're born,
Produce waste and die,
What's the point?
I decided that the point was to try to improve the world,
To make it better than how I found it.
I decided that helping others was the quickest means to achieve this.
But then this month happened.
There is a study group that I meet with and lately I had been getting harsher with them,
But I hadn't noticed.
What I did notice was my aggravation about very little things after our meetings.
As I grew more and more spiteful,
I finally noticed it.
Initially I brushed it off as frustration and moved on,
But then I was still getting angry at really petty things.
So I knew something was wrong.
I sat down to find out what was really going on since I was sure that these so-called infuriating scenes were not the cause of my anger,
But the effect of it.
Here's what I found out.
I tracked the anger back.
I was angry because I was frustrated,
Okay?
No surprise there.
I was frustrated because I was bitter.
Little bit of surprise.
I was bitter because I felt people were taking advantage of me.
Surprise.
The surprise was that I generally don't let a situation of being taken advantage of to even arise,
Let alone continue.
So I had to investigate more.
I felt I was being taken advantage of because here I was dedicating my life to helping others improve and they were not improving.
How dare they?
Well,
Once I knew that they had a problem,
It all fell into place pretty quickly.
They had to improve to catch up with me.
Basically,
I thought I was better than everyone else and I was being compassionate to take time out of my busy schedule to help them improve themselves,
To help them catch up with me.
Wow.
And what did I do to resolve the issue?
I just sat there and admitted based on the evidence that I felt I was better than everyone else.
I didn't try to fight it.
I didn't justify it.
All I did was admit it.
And that state of acceptance was really relaxing and cleansing.
It wasn't right or wrong.
It wasn't good or bad.
It was just true,
A historical fact.
There wasn't anything to dispute or argue about and that was very liberating.
So not only did I find the root of my anger in that situation,
But I had a very good experience from doing so,
Very rewarding.
And Venerable Chodron responded,
What you did is the real meaning of practicing Dharma.
That's what Dharma is all about.
You counteract the destructive emotions in your mind,
In this case,
Anger and arrogance,
And got your mind back to a clear,
Balanced state.
So now think of a time when you tried to help others but found yourself getting angry.
Take some time to trace back the thoughts behind that anger,
Just like this person did in the story.
And from reflecting on this incident,
What you did was the real meaning of practicing Dharma.
Venerable Chodron!
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