So now that we are ready to meditate,
You can adjust your sitting posture to be as comfortable as possible.
Doesn't matter whether you are sitting on the floor or on a chair,
As long as you can settle yourself down as comfortably as possible.
And we gently close our eyes,
Close our eyes in much the same way that we might close them in order to go to sleep.
We try to avoid any tension in our posture,
So even if we are sitting cross-legged,
We try to do so in as relaxed a way as possible.
Make sure there is nothing to impede the smooth circulation of our blood throughout our legs.
And we place both of our hands,
Palms upwards in our lap.
Sitting on a chair then generally sitting with two feet flat on the floor and extending our back to its full height with our chin horizontal and again placing both of our hands,
Palms upwards in our lap.
Ensuring that we have unimpeded circulation all the way from the top of our head right the way down to the tips of our toes.
And we breathe deeply and gently two or three times,
Letting each breath carry our attention back within ourselves.
Breathing in until our breath reaches all the way down to the deepest point of our abdomen before breathing out again very slowly.
We allow our breath to embody our awareness and transport it back to the present moment.
We may feel the way in which our shoulders drop to their natural height and rest naturally.
We can follow our breath a few more times before taking a little moment to observe once again our sitting posture so that we can be sure that we are sitting in the most comfortable possible position.
To allow our mind to remain still and undistracted for the longest possible time without any physical discomfort to bother our continuity of awareness.
And if at any time in our meditation any discomfort returns then we can feel free to just adjust ourselves at any time.
So we adjust our posture to be comfortable and slowly bring our attention back to be aware of our bodily sensation.
We do that by relieving every muscle from any remaining tension.
Starting at the top of our head we allow our attention to move gently down through the body,
Relaxing the forehead and moving on down through our face,
Relaxing our neck and shoulders.
And observing as the flow of relaxation spreads along both of our arms to our hands,
All the way to the tips of our fingers.
We allow the sense of relaxation to spread down through our chest,
Trunk and torso,
Across the whole of our abdomen and down to our legs and feet,
All the way down to the tips of our toes.
Leaving us with the feeling that all the remaining tension in our body has been slowly dissipated completely,
Especially from our facial muscles and our shoulders,
Leaving us feeling completely relaxed,
At ease and comfortable.
Because when our body is comfortable it's very easy for our mind to become still and remain undistracted.
So we take as much time as we need to make sure the whole of our body feels at ease.
Turning now to the relaxation of the mind.
If our mind starts to wander or be distracted,
In fact there's no need to put up a fight against those thoughts.
We just bring our attention back gently to the relaxation of our body,
Conjuring up a feeling inside ourselves as if we are about to go on holiday,
To take a vacation.
We might picture ourselves sitting alone in serene natural surroundings,
Which could be on a beach or on the top of a mountain,
Surrounded by forest or even in the desert,
Anywhere that you'd like to be,
Anywhere where you'd feel the happiest.
You can imagine yourself being in the middle of that place,
At the centre of that space,
As if you were becoming one with those serene natural surroundings,
As if this were your personal corner of peace,
Where you can take a step back from the busy world outside.
It's a place where you can rest and re-energise your mind with peace.
We take a moment to observe our surrounding space and feel as if it expands slowly outwards to the horizon.
And here at the centre of our personal space,
We observe and take a mental note of the way our whole body is pervaded with a sense of peace and tranquillity.
We allow our awareness to come into harmony with this sensation of peace,
To the point that the thoughts gradually drop away,
Leaving the mind at a standstill,
Allowing the mind to decompress,
Letting go of any remaining thoughts,
Feelings or residual emotions,
Any frustrations or worries still cluttering your mind.
You might imagine that those thoughts in the mind are gradually blowing away,
Like thistle down,
Or the seeds on a dandelion clock,
Gradually freeing up our mind of all the burdens that we've been carrying inside us,
Whatever they may be.
Because this is a time for us to rest,
To just be.
And it begins with the unburdening of our own mind from all kinds of mental clutter,
Letting them go one by one,
Little by little,
Until our mind feels as comfortable as our body,
Feeling free and liberated,
As if everything inside us has been transformed into weightlessness and spaciousness.
And when the mind can become unburdened,
Everything seems to become broad and expansive,
Light and free.
The feeling when our mind can break free from the usual negativity it feels,
Is rather like that of clouds floating freely in the sky,
Free of any control,
Free of any kind of force,
Even defying gravity,
Free and unconstrained.
So take as long as you need to free up your mind,
Until your body seems to merge with the space around you,
At which point we can slowly bring our attention back inside ourselves,
To that special place at the centre of our abdomen,
Or a place inside us where the mind feels the most comfortable,
Is at the centre that we can connect with our true self inside on a deeper level.
So gently place the mind,
Place the awareness at the centre of yourself,
At a place in the middle of your abdomen,
Observe the gradually increasing sense of peace that slowly immerses the mind continuously and gently.
And here at the centre our mind finally feels that it has returned home after a long journey,
Giving it the chance to rest and re-energise,
Without us needing to do anything,
To engage with anyone or anything outside of itself.
It's the time for the mind to rest,
To sit back and relax,
Finally have the chance to shed all its ingrained negativity.
And here at the centre we can visualise an image,
To have an object for the mind as a point of reference or an anchor to allow it to settle.
And in this respect you can visualise a bright full moon,
Like the one we've seen shining high up in the sky,
But in this case we feel that the bright full moon slowly emerges at our own centre inside us,
Shining brightly,
Radiating its light all around,
Warm,
Soft,
Bright and clear.
We allow this light to expand,
Letting the warm bright moonlight share its light around,
Expanding,
Illuminating the lives of every living being,
And letting that bright full moon represent our mind at a standstill inside of ourselves.
So we let this inner brightness shine forth as a token of our own mind,
At one with it,
At one and the same as the light shining brightly all around.
And if we find our mind becoming distracted from time to time,
We acknowledge the activity of the mind and direct our mind back again to the centre.
The reality of meditation in the beginning is that it's always going to be this gentle back and forth,
So pay attention to the process of moving away from the centre and coming back.
As you do so,
This movement of the attention will leave you unfazed,
Allowing you to come back again and again,
While cultivating a sense of patience and gentleness with yourself,
And never trying to push anything away.
You never have to try to control or fix your thoughts.
And if at any time during the meditation you realise that the mind's wandered or got caught up in thinking it's not a problem,
It's just what it's used to doing,
But we give it something different.
We reintroduce it to the centre every time that we bring our awareness back to the centre,
It will allow us to dive deep to where the stillness and calm is,
To where the beauty is.
You need to tell yourself that there's nothing that you have to get right or perfect.
You simply remain curious and observe in the present moment.
You're getting to know the centre while observing its qualities.
You're creating a space between yourself and your thoughts and tapping into that still,
Silent place.
If the thoughts return,
We do our best to ignore them,
And if ignoring the thoughts proves ineffective,
Then we can make use of the traditional mantra instead,
Using the words,
Samaarahaṃ,
Samaarahaṃ,
Samaarahaṃ.
The more you say the mantra,
The more power you give to the words of the mantra,
And the more they will start to be able to help our mind become free of thought,
Start to lead deeper towards a sense of purity in the mind.
So we feel these words resonating within the heart and within every cell of ourselves,
To the very fibre of our being,
With each repetition of the mantra.
Without meditation most people have an attention span no better than a goldfish,
Sometimes estimated to be about eight seconds.
But however you measure up to a goldfish,
It seems fair to say that relaxation and focus are two qualities that everyone wants more of.
The ancients believed that you can quiet the mind and settle your nerves by focusing on a single object,
Like inner brightness,
Full moon or an imagined candle flame inside ourselves.
And such a technique can help us enhance our cognitive function,
Mental health and spiritual connectedness.
Because often people have forgotten how to relax.
Everything from technology to the pandemic has made it difficult for people to focus their minds and find a state of calm.
But by focusing inwardly on a meditational object,
It helps us to empty our mind by keeping our awareness in gentle contact with the centre of the body through meditation on inner brightness,
Can increase our cognitive performance and focus,
Attention span and the quality of our sleep.
Digging deeper,
Even research says that inner visualisation of brightness can enhance working and spatial memory and even spatial attention.
It bolsters our selective attention,
Cognitive flexibility.
Since meditation can help with relaxation,
It can also improve sleep quality and reduce the severity of insomnia.
It will take us beyond the material world by utilising the intuitive or internal eye to calm our mental state.
But it's not entirely about calming ourselves down,
It also brings a sense of internal strength and resilience,
Allowing us to deal better with day to day life,
Because we no longer react impulsively to what life throws at us.
Some of the spiritual benefits which meditation brings are also tuning into a sense of moderation in our emotions,
Our actions and our movements and an increase in consciousness and clarity.
But all we need to do is to maintain our attention gently in contact with the brightness at the centre of our body and in letting go of the thoughts,
You trust that everything worth remembering will actually be even clearer after you've meditated.
As with all forms of meditation,
It's best not to go into your practice expecting a particular experience,
But rather to be open to what comes up.
And this will help us to enhance our relationship with ourselves or our emotional integrity.
When the mind comes to a standstill,
When it breaks free of extraneous thought,
It will connect with the peace energy that we've generated.
And we'll always have it there when the mind is pure and free from mental impurities,
Whether it be greed,
Hatred or delusion.
Peace inside will transform into loving kindness,
Compassion,
Good wishes and positive intention for others.
And as today's meditational theme is the spreading of the light of hope,
By now we'll start to realise that hope must begin within our own minds.
When we are the light,
Then we are able to reach out and share the light with others as a result of that.
And that's when hope becomes more than just an idea,
But something that can be shared through the practice of meditation.
The starting point for hope is when our mind can come to a standstill,
Become free of thought and start to generate inner light and well-being.
But the true way to sustain this generation of light and hope is to avoid pushing too hard.
This is why we always put so much emphasis on the concept of comfort in meditation as a way to keep the mind steady,
Calm,
Relaxed,
And at the same time just being an observer in meditation.
There's no need to interfere in the process.
It's more like we take one step back and observe what's going on.
So we gently place our attention at the centre of the candlelight inside and feel the light spread slowly outwards,
Expanding and radiating in all directions until we can feel the light perfusing the whole of our entire body and being.
We allow it to expand further until it covers the whole of the room where we're sitting for meditation,
Further still to the whole building,
To our neighbourhood,
And all the way outwards to the whole city,
The country,
The entire nation and the rest of the world,
Sharing this light of hope,
Love and peace to whoever is within reach with the affirmation that may our loving kindness reach out to all people,
All sentient beings,
May they live free from danger,
From sadness,
From suffering of all kinds.
May anyone who has experienced misfortune be free from that sadness and sorrow and may joy and happiness fill their lives instead.
So we spare our loving kindness,
Our compassionate intention to all living beings without exception,
Our mind like the full moon spreading its light to every person,
Every living being,
Regardless of race,
Religion or creed,
Simply sharing our universal love,
Wishing them to be free from harm,
To be established in joy and happiness.
In the same way that all the individual candles which in themselves are not particularly bright but when lit together can produce a more substantial brightness to illuminate the world,
In the same way we bring together our small intentions for hope and peace,
Allowing them to connect together from all around the world and those tiny intentions from meditators everywhere radiating loving kindness together can form a worldwide tide for peace and good on our planet.
We allow it to expand beyond borders,
Boundaries,
Reaching out to every sentient being,
Whether outwards to friends,
Family,
Loved ones,
Whether they are still living or have passed on.
We embrace them all with that peace energy and with that loving kindness whether they are here or elsewhere,
Making the affirmation that they find comfort and loving kindness in all that we share.
May the seeds of compassion be planted in the hearts,
Minds and souls of every living being,
That everyone may live happy and free,
Safe from pandemics or epidemics,
Established in love and compassion,
Respect and generosity.
May the power of our positive energy and merit keep us safe from all danger and suffering.
Let's expand the light and energy beyond all limits as we bring our attention back within ourselves and allowing the flow of energy running through our entire body to bring us back in touch with our bodily sensations,
Connecting with our positive affirmations on the inside on the basis of the peace energy generated today and through the sharing of that peace and the power of our loving kindness,
Hope and energy which was spread to all living beings for a few more moments in silence.
Let's expand the light and energy beyond all limits as we bring our attention back
