In your own time finding your way into your natural seated position,
I would like to first of all extend to you the invitation to be comfortable.
Throughout this meditation if there are times when you feel the need to adjust,
Please do so.
If there are times when you feel the need to scratch an itch,
Please do so.
There are many times when students have asked me about their practice and the good and bad qualities of their practice,
And I would like to write off the beginning of this meditation remind you that the practice of meditation is a constant moment-to-moment awareness.
And with the awareness of the moment,
With the awareness of what is,
There is no right or wrong.
With that being said,
It may be helpful for us to set an intention for the meditation.
And with that intention it can offer us soft guidelines as we move forward,
As we move into our meditation.
It can create context for our mind to better understand or to better absorb what we are receiving,
What we are aware of through our meditation.
Now,
If there's an intention that is coming to you,
Please feel free to settle with that.
That is very much a good thing.
And knowing that if nothing's coming to mind that that's okay too.
Again,
No right or wrong,
And allow me to offer the intention of compassion through our practice.
Now,
The understanding of compassion is perhaps one that we have known to have limits.
That is to say,
In the situations in our life where we have been offered compassion,
Where we have offered compassion,
Where we have experienced others having compassion,
It may have been limited in a way.
The intention of compassion that we set today is one that is completely without limit.
There is no extent or distance to which this compassion does not reach.
This includes all of the situations that may come to mind,
All of the situations that come to mind where we have so far had difficulty offering our self compassion,
Or have felt that others have not shared their compassion with us.
The intention for this meditation being to explore a place within us that is of such compassion,
There is no place where it is not.
Having the eyes open or closed continue with our meditation.
Allow for the words and the sounds,
The sensations and the distractions to be.
The control in our meditation can be directed towards our attention and the quality of our intention and of our attention.
The quality of our attention when we are aware of sounds,
Sensations in the body,
Distracting thoughts,
Unhelpful thoughts,
Emotions.
We may notice a reaction,
An emotional reaction to this experience and I would like to offer you the opportunity to redirect that energy into the quality of your attention.
That is to say,
Ah,
How interesting.
What a fruitful moment of distraction.
Wow,
How interesting to be so distracted right during my meditation and I'm so distracted,
How interesting.
And the quality of our attention is directly tied into our intention,
The radical compassion.
This is a practice of radical compassion.
To experience compassion beyond what we maybe have thought of as normal,
Complete and total compassion for every moment,
For every thought,
Compassion for every situation that may come to mind.
And when there are situations that come to mind,
Because there will be some in which we feel difficulty expressing,
Sharing our compassion,
The quality of our attention reminds us that simply because we are human we experience situations that we are proud of and situations that we feel we could have done better.
We may not be very proud.
We may have disappointed ourselves or others and it is by no fault of our own.
It is being human.
Being human is to be perfect and to be imperfect we are both fully.
These situations are not without their complicated emotions.
And in that I'm with you to experience thoughts and emotions that are beyond our ability to solve situations or feelings that seem beyond our control.
How frustrating it may be to be with these thoughts,
These experiences that have happened to us,
And to take this moment in our practice to remind ourselves that this is not a reflection of our character,
That we are trying our best.
Even saying to ourselves,
I am trying my best.
I am trying my best.
In times where we feel we have fallen short,
I was trying my best and I'm trying my best now.
In this practice today with the intention of compassion I remind you and continue to invite you to rest in this place of complete compassion even for these few moments.
This can be a time to experiment if not to allow ourselves the opportunity to rest in complete compassion.
Compassion beyond our understanding of compassion,
A radical compassion that takes us from these sticky spots in our life and carries us into a rest and an acceptance.
This is the practice today.
Can the energy of compassion rise from within us and create for a lightness?
This unlimited compassion is filled and consists of love,
Forgiveness,
Understanding,
Clarity,
Restfulness,
Calm,
Any other attributes that may feel helpful are included in this unlimited compassionate place and more.
These are just some of the qualities to this unlimited light compassion.
Breathing in,
We are breathing in.
Breathing out,
Thank you for this breath.
Breathing in,
I am human.
I am complete.
Breathing out,
I am human and I have made mistakes.
With every in-breath,
We remind ourselves of our humanity and our unlimited spiritual nature.
The love that God or Source,
Whatever you may call it,
Has for us.
And as we exhale,
Reminding ourselves that we are human and that a part of being human is making mistakes.
No one is free from the fullness of those two truths.
We are trying our best.
I am trying my best.
You are trying your best and the world is incredibly grateful for that.
