So then follows the meditation on gratitude,
Particularly focusing on the meaning and purpose of this life,
Beginning by getting yourself comfortable as always,
Upright,
Your meditation position,
Your eyes almost closed,
And take a few deeper breaths using those breaths,
Really the out breath to calm the mind and calm the body,
Take one more long breath in,
Long breath out,
And then we set an intention being here,
Meditating,
Making it not just about ourselves,
Recognize the connection we have with all other living beings,
And make the intention to be there for ourselves,
But also for every single living being as well.
And then coming into the present moment,
Let everything else go,
Just be with yourself in this moment,
And begin by bringing your attention to your breathing,
And for the first few moments,
Just rest your attention with the breath going in and the breath going out.
And then we begin to imagine or visualize ourselves in situations or lives which are worse than the one we have.
Imagine being an animal,
Especially a wild animal exposed to the elements,
Not knowing where the food is going to come from,
Being constantly in fear of being attacked or eaten by other animals.
Imagine living a life like that,
Try and put yourself in the place of an animal.
And then imagine being human,
But being someone who's an addict,
Drug addict,
Or an alcoholic,
Someone whose life is completely controlled by their addiction,
Unable to think about anything else or aspire to anything other than their next drink or drug,
Or whatever other addiction it may be,
Imagine being like that,
Put yourself in the place of someone like that.
And then try to imagine being in a place,
Being born in a place of famine,
Where you're constantly hungry,
You're watching other people,
Even your own children dying of hunger,
Unable to feed them.
Again put yourself in that position.
Imagine how it would be to live like that.
And then bring your mind back to your own life.
And feel,
Recognize how fortunate to have a life like this.
Imagine being born in a place of war,
Where you're constantly in fear of yourself or your family or your home being destroyed,
Where you can't sleep properly,
Where you're watching people and property being destroyed every day,
Where you have to leave your home,
Leaving all your possessions behind.
Imagine living a life like that.
Or try to imagine being seriously mentally or physically disadvantaged,
Not able to do the things that other people can do,
Not able to think the way other people can think.
Put yourself in the place of someone like that.
Or being born in a country or place where you had no freedom,
Where your life was controlled by others,
That even if you want to do something different,
You're unable or not allowed.
Or finally being born,
Like most people who may have material,
Materially whatever they need,
May have a comfortable life,
But have no wish to improve themselves,
To work on their minds,
To become a better person,
Become a wiser,
Happier person,
Like most people in the world,
Just living for sensual gratification,
For that alone.
And then again bring your mind back to your own life,
And feel how fortunate,
How lucky to have a life like this,
How much we have to be grateful for.
And then consider what this life has,
We're born human,
We're educated,
We have intelligence,
We have time,
Resources,
And the basic material needs to be able to do something important with this life.
We have our friends,
Our family,
Our children,
Our parents,
Whatever you have to be grateful for,
Think about those things,
Let them be there in your mind.
We have the time and resources and there are the availability of teachings and practices which can lead to greater happiness,
Greater meaning,
Greater benefit in this life.
There are teachers,
There are examples of great beings who've transformed their life,
And most importantly of all we have interest,
We have an aspiration to want to improve things.
Again feel that sense of gratitude to everything we have,
Not a thought but a feeling,
More around the center of the body rather than the head,
Be with that feeling for a few moments.
And then we consider the purpose,
The meaning of having a life like this,
And we can,
With the life we have,
Waste our time,
We can drink ourselves or take drugs or watch TV,
We can waste this life doing nothing if we want to,
We have the choice to do that,
Unlike so many living beings we have that choice.
But clearly if we're looking for long-term well-being,
Happiness,
That's not going to do it.
So we think of a higher purpose,
A higher meaning to improve ourselves,
To become a better person,
More wise,
More confident,
More balanced,
We have everything we need to do that,
Nothing is missing.
But the greatest meaning we can give to this life is to be here not just for ourselves,
To recognize that we are connected with others,
That we live in dependence upon others,
And make our life beneficial not just for ourselves but for other living beings as well,
To generate love,
Compassion,
Connection.
This is the greatest way,
The greatest meaning or purpose we can give to our life,
To be here for the benefit of others.
So again let that purpose,
That meaning be there in your mind as a feeling,
And rest your attention with that for a few moments.
And then finally we dedicate our practice,
May this become the cause for benefit to ourselves,
But also to all other living beings,
To lead them out of suffering,
And to give ourselves and all living beings complete happiness.
Thank you.
