Alright,
So we're just going to review these six metacognitive aspects from the Rome group.
You know,
Liati,
Demaggio,
Semerari,
Etc.
Okay,
Cool.
And then I like to add one before the whole group of interest,
Curiosity and receptiveness.
So let's just do like a little bit of contemplation on all of these.
Just bring to mind what it's like to have interest,
Especially interest in your own and other people's mental states.
Now notice how that feels good.
There's this quality of exploration,
Discovery.
There's even a quality of like mystery.
I mean,
What the hell is a mental state?
Right?
Think about that.
Okay,
Good.
Now let that go.
Now we're going to move on to identification.
So just label your actual experience this moment.
Simply identifying what your actual experience is this moment.
And now particularly pay attention to emotions and thoughts.
And now refresh this quality of curiosity and interest.
It's like,
Well,
What am I experiencing?
Good.
Now we're going to move on to differentiation.
Okay,
My thoughts are just thoughts.
My feelings are just feelings.
They're important.
They matter.
But there is apparently a way that they're different from reality.
From let's say an outside quote unquote objective reality.
Imagine yourself having,
Let's say,
A worry.
Like a completely irrational worry.
Or maybe making an assessment that's completely incorrect about the world.
And now say to yourself,
Yeah,
Sure.
That's just a thought.
That's just a feeling.
Good.
Now let's move on to Oh,
Well,
Relating variables.
Let's go to relating variables.
So here we're just noticing very,
Very simple cause and effect relationships.
Like,
Let's do it with my voice.
Okay.
Blue elephant.
You heard that and notice if an image thought arises.
Rising and falling of the abdomen.
Does hearing those words have an effect on you?
Does something arise when you hear the words rising and falling of the abdomen?
So this is just simple cause and effect.
You can also call this karma.
Good.
And now the next one that we're going to look at is integration.
So here,
Like,
Think of maybe a problem or maybe even an accomplishment.
Think of just bring up some outcome of a process in your life.
And here,
Put it in narrative form.
Make sense out of it.
Oh,
This happened because of such and such and blah,
Blah,
Blah.
And then this other thing happened,
But then there was such and such.
So just do that for a moment.
Come up with a story that makes sense about something either good or bad in your life.
Okay.
And now I want you to feel into the sense of agency,
Like that you can explain and understand some facet of your life that gives you a sense of agency,
Control,
Even like a kind of a sense of power.
And now notice how that makes life much less scary and much more manageable.
Notice that.
The sense of agency is a function of mastery.
Now,
Think of something difficult in your life.
Think of something that's caused suffering for you.
And now imagine your best healthy adult self coming and comforting that past self of yours that experiences suffering.
See how your healthy adult self is expansive,
Open and receptive.
There's a cognitive aspect to the compassion.
Your healthy adult self knows and understands cognitively the suffering of your past.
But there's also a kind of more affective emotional compassion.
You can feel that in the heart.
Go ahead and develop that scene.
So we're focusing on compassion.
Keep going with that.
Okay,
Good.
Now,
We're going to work on something related to de-centration.
So see this scene,
But then now you step out of the scene.
You can imagine you're very tall and broad,
That the mind is very expanded.
See how you understand all of this,
That you take a very broad perspective.
See how you understand the cause and effect relationships that brought about this suffering.
You're not alone in this.
Others have had very similar experiences.
See how you can understand the mental states of others,
Because you understand your own mental states,
You understand your own,
The way that you coped with this difficult situation.
And therefore,
You have a sense for the mental states of others and it's not completely reliable,
But it's approximate.
And now see how there's this heart opening towards others who've experienced this difficulty.
There's nothing special or heroic.
It's just that you know what this suffering is like,
And you can mentalize.
You have theory of mind.
You understand mental states in other people.
And also there's a sense of community,
Of sangha,
Of being,
Of kind of we're all in this together.
Feel that and recognize that.
And now we're going to emphasize the equanimity aspect of mastery.
So now step back even further and see all of this.
Maybe see all of the suffering of the whole world throughout all space and all time.
You know,
And get the sense that this is cause and effect.
This is part of what it means to be a living being.
Recognize paradoxically above the wholesome desire to relieve the suffering of others.
And also some inability.
There's maybe not all that much you can do.
See both of those at the same time.
Good.
So now we'll come to the end of this what I call a kind of didactic or kind of like a pedagogic meditation on the metacognitive skills.
So one more time,
Kind of step outside of the meditation and just look back.
What was this like?
What did you learn?
One more time,
Notice this sense of that you had these insights and now you have a greater sense of agency,
Mastery,
And control in your life.
Not feel into that.
Very good.
Very good.
Okay,
So we're going to wrap this up.
So may this meditation work through us in such a way that all beings benefit,
Including ourselves.
I'll count from five to one and when I get to one you'll be awake and present in the room,
Settled in the experience.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Awake and present in the room,
Settled in the experience.
