So if you'd like to settle yourself down into a comfortable position for your meditation today,
Closing your eyes very gently and breathing deeply to yourself,
While letting go of any tensions in your body,
All the way from the top of your head,
Right the way down to the tips of your toes.
And in this body scan of ours,
We can allow the muscles of our face to become soft,
Taking care that even the way we've closed our eyes is as gentle as possible,
Bearing in mind that the muscles around our eyes are the most sensitive in our body.
And if we can close our eyes gently,
Then the whole of the rest of our body will relax in just the same way.
So we allow that wave of relaxation to pass down through our face to our neck and shoulders,
Relaxing all the muscles there,
Relaxing both arms,
Forearms,
Hands and fingers.
So the way our hands rest in our lap should feel as light and gentle as possible.
Moving on down,
We relax all the muscles of our torso,
Whether it be our chest,
Trunk or abdomen,
Relaxing both legs,
All the way down to our feet and our toes,
Until the whole of our body seems to melt away into the atmosphere around us,
Comfortable enough to allow us to forget about the body and turn our attention instead to the feeling inside us,
Inside the space of our body,
Where we can also spend a few moments to make sure our state of mind is as relaxed as our body.
So ideally our state of mind should feel awake and alert,
But also relaxed.
Picking up on the energy of solidarity with like-minded meditators in our group,
Because there's always a sharing of the inspiration to meditate,
The brushes off on all around us and gives us a sense of belonging.
So at this point we can withdraw our awareness within the space of our own body to a place inside ourselves that feels free of any worries and concerns.
Although there may be things going on in our busy lives,
But we've set aside a special time for ourselves to recover and relax our sense of well-being.
We conjure up a sense of happiness,
Joy and freedom in the mind while putting aside any unwanted thoughts.
And as we nurture the sense of happiness and joy inside ourselves,
We allow that same feeling to grow and expand within ourselves until there's no space left in our mind for any other sort of thought.
Maybe we'll feel as if our whole body is light in weight,
Expanding,
Or as if it's disappeared altogether into the atmosphere around us.
And at this point for those of you who feel ready,
You can start to practice your favorite method of meditation now that your body and mind are completely relaxed.
But for those of you who are new to meditation or who favor the Dhammakaya approach,
I'd invite you to imagine that inside your body is just an empty space or a hollow cavity with no organs or tissues,
Muscles or bones.
Almost as if your whole body has been transformed into a hollow shell with nothing on the inside.
In order to act as a sort of anchor for the mind,
You might like to picture a bright object in your mind's eye,
Such as a full moon shining,
A shining sun,
Maybe a twinkling star,
Or a sparkling diamond.
And even if you can't directly see that object,
You may find that the feeling of the presence of that object will work just as well.
You may feel as if you have one of those objects floating within the space of your body.
And at this point,
You can allow the object to float gently down within the space of your body,
Following the breath down to its deepest point at the diaphragm,
A place known in this tradition as the seventh base of the mind.
But in fact,
Anywhere in that general area which feels comfortable for you will work just as well.
We maintain our mind in place lightly and gently by means of the inner object that we've imagined as continuously as we can for as long as we can,
Not letting our mind wander off anywhere else if we can help it.
But if the mind should wander off,
As inevitably happens,
We just bring it back again each time to the center as before,
And if the inner object disappears,
Then we can think of a new one.
If we notice that thoughts interrupt our meditation,
We do our best to ignore them rather than elaborate on them.
But if we find the mind becomes plagued by thoughts,
If we find our brain is working like the proverbial hamster wheel,
We might find it useful to make use of a traditional mantra such as hearing the sound of the words Samma Arahang,
Samma Arahang,
Samma Arahang,
Coming up from the center of the body over and over again until the mind starts to gain independence from those thoughts,
Until the spaces between the thoughts start to last longer than the thoughts themselves.
In effect meditation is unique in the way over thousands of years it has contributed to human spirituality,
Culture,
Bringing a sense of grace and meaning to the lives of all who practice,
While fostering honesty,
Compassion and respect for all living beings.
And in the present age the need for humility and deep empathy are so essential for the well-being of all on our planet.
So as we meditate today we can make the resolve to ourselves to continue to work together to build the lives of peace and dignity for all on a healthy planet.
There are so many benefits that arise from coming together to explore this shared spiritual path that can lead all practitioners to become free from suffering while touching progressively upon an inner experience of enlightenment.
And as we gradually shed the shortcomings from the mind,
Whether it be grasping,
Malevolence or delusion,
By letting go of the unmindful,
The uncomprehending,
The unconcentrated residues of our wandering mind and faculties,
As we move incrementally closer to that inner space of purity,
We'll start to find that it doesn't actually matter what technique we started out with or where we meditate,
But any place we practice meditation,
Even at home,
Even if we're unable to go to a meditation center in person,
Will help to bring ourselves closer to the seventh base of the mind,
A point in the body which is a portal that leads the mind deeper towards wisdom.
And any approach to the meditation that internalizes the mind within the body will eventually converge with that shared spiritual path,
So ultimately they will all lead to inner wisdom.
So at this point I'd like to encourage everyone to continue to practice meditation,
Keeping the mind on track lightly and gently with our inner object at the center of ourselves,
As we continue to focus the mind gently in peace at the center of the body for a few more moments until we come to the appropriate time.
Sometimes when you're new to meditation you may find that there are so many things popping up in the mind,
It's as if its busyness never ceases.
Things like the ocean waves,
One after the other,
With those thoughts coming and going the whole of the time.
But if we allow those thoughts to come and go,
Accepting that this is how the mind is,
Without getting worried or upset about it during the meditation itself,
We'll find that the less we worry about it,
The more we accept the reality,
Just acknowledging and bringing ourselves back to our meditational object,
Then we'll gradually become master of our own mind,
Rather than a slave to our own distractions.
So if you find your mind is wandering off onto other things,
Each time you realize you can just bring your attention back again to the center of the body as before.
Bring our attention back to the center of the body for as many times as it takes to build up that sense of continuity between your awareness and that special place at the center of yourself.
As you continue to cultivate the mind in this way,
You'll find that the number of the thoughts becomes gradually less with or without the mantra.
You'll find the gaps between the thoughts gradually become longer,
Until the gaps between the thoughts become longer than the thoughts themselves.
And you'll start to be able to see through to what lies beneath the thoughts in the mind,
Beneath that superficial layer of left brain thinking.
You'll start to be able to access more intuitive places in the mind,
A deeper level of the subconscious,
Gut feelings,
Inner wisdom,
Until you reach a point where the thoughts die down completely and you'll start to have a permanent connection to those deeper gifts of the mind.
But for now we keep our mind on track,
Lightly and gently,
Keeping our mind in place with nothing more than a feather-like touch,
Each to our own practice for a few more moments now in silence,
Until we come to time for some loving-kindness meditation.
Meditation Done!
You you you you you so we continue to keep our mind on track at the center of the body as continuously as we can for as long as we can always at the center of whatever inner experience we've built up for ourselves as a result of our meditation so far today whether it be in the form of a feeling of well-being at the center of ourselves a sense of illumination within ourselves or images within us large or small we place our mind gently at the center of that inner experience and if we place our awareness exceedingly gently there will be a sense of melting away which allows that inner experience to spread outwards from the central point almost like a ripple spreading across the surface of a pond around the place where a pebble has been thrown in spreading in ever-widening circles from the epicenter and in this way we spread positive peace energy from the center of ourselves initially to fill the whole of our body every fiber of our being every cell and molecule of our body and this process of spreading is known as loving-kindness and initially we extend a loving-kindness towards ourselves with a sense of self-compassion a love for who we are at the very least a sense of acceptance and a sense of forgiveness because we need to love ourselves first before we can have love to share with others wishing ourselves to be well and happy free from all suffering before allowing that same spreading of loving-kindness to extend beyond the boundaries of our own body outwards into the room around us almost like a halo or an aura outwards towards other sentient beings to the whole building from there radiating outwards into our entire neighborhood with the positive intention as our loving-kindness spreads to the living beings in our midst sharing that state of peace and happiness as we let it grow further expanding to the entire town and county to all sentient beings or people no matter where they are or who they might be with a wish that all those living beings be touched by our loving-kindness our sense of love and compassion which dispels all negativity all the negative elements that affect the world gradually disappearing as the loving-kindness spreads further and further across the surface of our planet above and beyond borders and boundaries extending its warmth and compassion to every living being every creature sharing this planet with a tide of loving-kindness which you may experience as a sense of well-being or extending light that shines outwards from your center towards the whole of the world to bring a state of happiness and contentment with the wish that all sadness sorrow or aggression be swept away by the beauty of this compassion just like a single candle light can be used to light many more candles until eventually the collected light becomes resplendent dispelling darkness in the same way from one person or two spreading loving-kindness the tide of compassion acceptance peace and harmony can become tangible in the same way so we make the wish for ourselves and for all the sentient beings around us that they may be touched by this sense of inner peace love and compassion that all their negativity be swept away we can also extend loving-kindness to particular loved ones family members relatives and friends wherever they may be whether they are still alive or whether they have already passed feeling them at our center and extending that energy of peace along with our loving-kindness along with our good wishes for them to be well and happy we extend positive wishes for all without exception with a sense of gratitude and appreciation extending a sense of the light of peace and harmony throughout the world in this way the last few moments of our practice together you you
