The Sanskrit word for meditation means cultivation.
In meditation,
We cultivate our minds away from self-judgment,
Guilt,
And low self-esteem and toward serenity,
Balance,
And clarity.
Not to hide from the world,
But to be able to respond to it wisely and lovingly.
So begin by settling into a comfortable position.
Not too tight and not too loose,
With your heart area open.
Feeling regal and dignified.
Notice any dissatisfaction or anxiety you may be carrying.
Notice any unwanted emotional weather that you carry as a matter of course.
Feelings of self-judgment,
Inadequacy,
Sadness,
Striving to fix,
Getting annoyed.
Notice any tendency of mind or behavior that is your baseline.
The normal that you carry without conscious awareness.
Not judging it,
Not despairing over it,
Just noticing.
Just noticing your habitual mind state.
Picture yourself in a typical moment in your day and see what is the emotional weather that you're carrying.
What is your autopilot?
Notice with intimate,
Tender,
Compassionate awareness.
See these unwanted feelings as an eddy in a river,
The river of you.
These feelings like a trapped side pocket where the water turns and turns in a whirlpool going nowhere.
And imagine reaching into that image and moving the stones in the riverbank,
Shifting the stones to free that eddy in water,
To allow it to flow back into the river,
Releasing that trapped energy.
And see how the whole river becomes suddenly more powerful,
More beautiful,
Stronger.
Your own life force returning to you,
Revitalizing you.
Breathing out any useless anxiety or irritation,
Breathing in serenity,
Joy,
Balance,
Mental clarity to respond to your life calmly,
Wisely,
Lovingly.
And anytime your mind,
Your thoughts get trapped again in that eddy,
Just reaching in,
Shift the stones,
Let that powerful energy return into your life force to join the river,
Freeing it.
And now calling to mind a loved one who is suffering physically or psychologically in any way.
And for a moment,
Give your attention to them as you just offered attention to yourself.
To give your attention means to tend,
To watch over,
To take care of,
To give your attention to yourself or to someone else with loving compassion is your most intimate gift.
And so call this loved one to mind and let this person fill your heart.
Attend to their experiences,
Be present for a moment to whatever grief or pain they may be enduring.
See it through their eyes.
For a moment,
Feel it as if you were them.
And returning to your own perspective and wishing this person well,
Wishing that they may be free from their suffering.
And picture the eddies that block them,
That trap their life energy breaking open,
Their life force restored,
Powerful and free.
Picture your loved one relieved of their pain,
Happy and fulfilled.
And for a moment holding them in your heart this way.
Now call to mind another person who out of delusion or ignorance is causing suffering to themselves or to other people.
Just as you did with your loved one,
Imagine seeing their difficulties through their eyes.
Feeling their pain as they might.
Then returning to your own perspective,
Understanding the consequences of their behavior,
Wish that they be free of any destructive behavior toward themselves or others.
In your mind's eye,
Help them push the stones of ignorance out of the way.
See the whirlpool of their unhappiness free itself.
Picture their life force strengthened by compassion for themselves and others.
Picture them restored.
And imagine this person happy and free.
Free of harming others,
Free of harming themselves.
And finally widening your scope of awareness to the whole world.
To everyone who suffers from anxiety or despair or inadequacy.
To anyone who is unkind toward themselves or others.
Embrace the whole world and all its beings with your beautiful heart.
Wishing may all of us be free of suffering and delusion.
May we all be free of old conditioning that traps our life energy and keeps our thoughts endlessly eddying.
May we be liberated.
May we be powerful in our love and compassion.
May we ease each other's pain.
Find in the hours and days to come knowing that whenever you notice your thoughts trapped in another eddy,
Circling,
Anxious,
Annoyed,
That you can reach in energetically and shift those stones and allow that life force back into the whole of you.
To let it reintegrate,
To invite clarity and serenity into your whole being in order to respond to all of life's challenges with wisdom and compassion and the love of your beautiful heart.
Sangha.
