Contemplation on the eight verses of Training the Mind.
Now reflect on the eight verses of Training the Mind,
Designed to dissolve your self-preoccupation and open you to the bliss of interconnectivity.
When you're comfortable,
Begin by breath meditation,
Calming and settling the mind.
Focus your awareness on the breath as you experience inhalation and exhalation at the nostrils.
Let go of any distractions in the mind and tension in the body.
If you like,
Do ten deep breaths to calm and center your mind.
Evoke the archetype of love and compassion.
This could be any being who represents love and compassion in your own tradition,
Such as Chenrezig,
Tara,
Kuan Yin,
Krishna,
Christ,
Buddha,
Muhammad,
The prophets,
Any yogis from your own tradition.
Imagine them with you,
Brilliant in their display of wisdom and compassion.
Imagine that they're there just for you to guide you,
To support you,
To evoke great compassion in your heart.
Whoever embodies perfect love,
Bring them to mind so that you can feel their presence with you as you meditate.
Now reflect on the triple gem,
The importance of taking reliable teachers,
Methods,
And community for your safe direction.
Now reflect on the four immeasurable thoughts.
May all living beings have happiness and its causes.
May all living beings be free from suffering and its causes.
May all living beings not be separated from the bliss that is awakening.
And may all living beings abide in equanimity,
Free from obsession,
Repulsion,
And misperception.
And finally go through the seven limb prayer.
Respectfully I prostrate with my body,
Speech,
And mind.
I present clouds of offerings,
Actual and imagined.
I confess all negativities accrued since beginningless time and rejoice in the virtues of all ordinary and enlightened beings.
Please teacher,
Remain as my guide and turn the wheel of teachings until suffering ends.
I dedicate myself and all my merits to the awakening of all living beings.
Reflect deeply on the eight verses of mind training.
Determined to achieve the greatest possible benefit for all living beings who are more precious than a wish fulfilling jewel,
I shall hold them most dear at all times.
As you reflect upon this,
Imagine your compassionate archetype sending you love and joy in the form of a white light from his or her heart,
Which rains down upon you and enters your crown,
Filling you with bliss and energy.
When in the presence of others I shall always consider myself second and from the depth of my heart consider others supreme.
Again imagining your spiritual archetype sending waves of loving affirmation to you which enter you and fill you with buoyance and energy.
Vigilant the moment the misperception of separateness arises in my mind,
I shall confront it and dispel it without delay.
Imagine that your archetype of love and care,
So delighted by your endeavor,
Sends to you loving blessings in the form of wonderful white light.
Whenever I see beings who are aggressive in nature and acting out of their own suffering,
I shall regard such ones as dear as if I have found a precious treasure.
Continue to imagine your archetype bathing you in love and compassion,
Holding you and supporting you and filling you with the nectar of awareness of interconnectivity.
When out of envy others mistreat me with insults and abuse,
I shall accept defeat and offer the victory to others.
Continue to imagine the loving blessings of your archetype raining down upon you.
When someone whom I have benefited from and in whom I have great hopes gives me a difficult time,
I shall regard them as my greatest teacher.
Imagine that the loving archetype represents boundless love that holds all beings dear and no one separate.
Feel ever interconnected and inspired by your loving archetype.
In short,
Both directly and indirectly,
Do I offer every happiness and benefit to all living beings.
I shall take upon myself and metabolize all their harmful actions and suffering.
Imagine your archetype of compassion sends a wave of solidarity to you that washes away any lingering self-preoccupation.
Undistracted by the eight worldly concerns of gain and loss,
Pleasure and pain,
Praise and blame,
Fame and disgrace,
May I perceive our true interconnectivity,
The meaning of life,
And be released from suffering.
Now imagine your great archetype teacher of love and compassion smiling down at you and let that lift your heart and make you feel connected.
Imagine that the warmth and kindness from their heart melts away any lingering fears within you,
Keeping you vibrant and buoyant and inspired.
All lingering doubts,
Insecurities,
Self-preoccupations are washed away by the loving energy of your compassionate archetype.
Now transition into dedication,
Reflecting upon the eight verses of mind training.
Access any warm-heartedness or love that you may be experiencing and dedicate yourself to further cultivating that for your own benefit and for the benefit of all living beings.
