Hello,
This is Arjun Achalo.
This guided meditation was led to a group of my Chinese Malaysian students whilst we were on pilgrimage in China on the sacred mountain devoted to Kuan Yin or Avalokiteshvara,
Bodhisattva.
This meditation begins with a body sweeping,
Moving into breath meditation,
Loving-kindness meditation,
And then we move into a visualization of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva.
Lord Buddha has recommended practice of Deva Nusati,
Recollecting deities as a way to brighten the mind using our imagination to stretch our habitual imitations.
The mind can become more radiant,
More spacious,
More compassionate than might otherwise be the case.
I hope that something in this meditation is useful.
Becoming aware of the sitting posture,
Mindfully aware of the body sitting,
Bringing mindful awareness to be aware of the feelings at the top of the head,
Moving the awareness over the back of the head,
Including the ears,
Sweeping mindful awareness over the face,
Relaxing any tension,
Taking one or two deeper breaths,
Relaxing into the sitting posture,
Moving the awareness to include the shoulders,
Relaxing any tension on the out breaths,
Sweeping mindful awareness down the right arm,
The elbow area,
The lower arm,
Right arm,
The back of the right hand,
Palm of the right hand,
Including the fingers,
And gently bringing awareness back up the arm,
The right shoulder,
Sweeping awareness over to the left hand side,
Aware of the left shoulder area,
Bringing the awareness down the arm,
The upper arm,
The elbow,
The lower arm,
Left arm,
Aware of the feelings on the surface of the skin,
The back of the left hand,
Include the palm,
And aware of the fingers,
Bringing the awareness slowly back up the arm,
The left arm,
Up to the shoulder,
And now sweeping the awareness down the back,
Upper part of the back,
Middle of the back,
The lower part of the back,
All the way down to the buttocks,
Feeling the pressure of the cushion or the seat,
The floor beneath you,
And then slowly bringing awareness back up from the lower back,
Middle of the back,
Shoulders,
Bringing the awareness down the chest,
Right hand side,
The left hand side,
Aware of feelings on the surface area of the skin,
Sweeping the awareness down the stomach area,
And down the abdomen,
And once again feeling the bottom pressing against the mat or the cushion,
And sweeping the awareness down the upper part of the right leg,
The knee area,
Down the shin,
And then the calf,
The ankle of the right leg,
Sweeping awareness down the top part of the right foot,
And then including the heel,
The sole,
The underside of the right foot,
Including the toes,
And then sweeping the awareness back up over the foot,
Ankle,
And back up the leg,
Shin,
Calf,
Knee,
Upper leg,
And moving the awareness over to the left upper leg,
Sweeping the awareness down the leg,
The upper side,
The underside of the upper leg,
The left knee,
Sweeping the awareness over the shin,
And then the calf muscle area,
Including the ankle,
Moving the awareness over the upper part of the left foot,
Then including the heel,
And the sole,
And the toes,
And once again gently moving the awareness up from the toes,
Ankle,
Shin,
Knee,
Upper leg,
Feeling the bottom again,
And just allowing the mind to rest in the present moment,
Aware of the body sitting,
Truly arriving in the present moment,
Bringing in fresh energy with the in-breath,
Putting the past down with each out-breath,
Not picking up the future,
Bring the awareness to the feelings involved with breathing,
Coming at the nose,
Moving down the chest into the abdomen,
Aware of the in-breath,
As the breath leaves,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Nose,
Aware of the out-breath,
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath,
Aware of the feelings of the natural breath,
Not trying to control the breath,
Just aware of the physical feelings involved with breathing,
Breath coming in,
Nose,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Breath going out,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Nose,
As this meditation will have a loving kindness and compassion component,
Having established mindful awareness we can add a wholesome wish,
Good intentions,
With the in-breath,
Making the wish,
Mental recitation,
Breathing in,
May I be well,
Breathing out,
May I be happy,
Breathing in,
May I be well,
Breathing out,
May I be happy,
With loving kindness,
Meditation,
Metta,
Radiating or allowing a quality of goodwill to blossom,
Shine,
Unfold in the area of your heart,
And just opening up this beautiful human capacity to love,
Offering it to oneself,
The conventional self,
Breathing in,
May I be well,
Breathing out,
May I be happy,
And dropping any other thoughts,
Any other attitudes,
And just allowing a quality of goodwill,
Acceptance,
Unconditional love,
Breathing in,
May I be well,
Breathing out,
May I be happy,
And just do this for the next minute or so.
The next part of the meditation,
We're going to be using our capacity to visualize,
Still aware of the feelings of the in and out breathing,
Allow yourself to be informed by the prompting,
And try to visualize.
Our intention is to use the capacity to visualize in order to increase our capacity to feel loving kindness and compassion,
To generate a beautiful image with which we can empathize,
Resonate.
Imagine now that you're sitting on a large rock facing the sea on an island off the coast of southern China.
It's a late afternoon.
There's a gentle breeze blowing in from the sea.
Imagine you're sitting under a 400-year-old camphor tree.
Above you,
A beautiful ancient moss-clad camphor tree.
Underneath you,
A large sandstone rock worn by centuries of rain and wind.
In front of you,
The South China Sea.
A gentle,
Slightly salty breeze blowing against your face.
The air is fresh,
Cool,
Aware of the in-breath,
Aware of the out-breath.
Behind you,
The sun is setting.
The huge cloudless expanse of sky above you has turned a beautiful shade of golden orange.
Aware of this vast,
Empty space filled with golden light,
And aware of the cool,
Deep sea,
A huge expanse of ocean in front of you.
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
The sun has set now,
And the sky is becoming dark.
Feeling the peace of this beautiful scene alone on this sandstone boulder,
The ocean before you,
The sound of waves,
Gentle waves,
A cool breeze.
A few stars begin to shine in the sky,
Aware of the deep,
Cool ocean,
And the boundless,
Empty space,
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
You notice now,
At the edge of the horizon,
A sliver of moon begins to rise.
As the moon continues to rise,
It's a beautiful golden yellow.
As the moon rises,
You admire how big it seems.
The moon has fully risen,
A beautiful golden globe reflected in the sea below.
The way the moon is reflected in the waves,
Shimmering,
Is very stunning,
Magical,
Beautiful,
And the breeze caresses your cheeks,
And the fresh scent of the ocean,
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
As the moon has risen further into the sky,
It has turned a beautiful white colour,
A large,
Perfectly round white disc,
Suspended in the middle of the sky,
In the middle of your vision,
Reflected in the sea on this cloudless night,
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
Staring at the moon now,
You notice something curious,
In the light that radiates from the moon,
You begin to see a beautiful female form,
A mother-like silhouette.
As the lines become clearer,
You can see that Kuan Yin Bodhisattva is manifesting in front of the moon,
A somewhat Chinese-looking lady with a kind,
Tender stare,
Manifesting in front of the moon and in front of you,
Suspended in the sky between you and the moon.
She's looking at you with incredible kindness.
You see in her eyes tender mercy,
Compassion,
Empathy,
Love.
Kuan Yin is draped in white scarves and a white dress.
Beneath her feet is a thousand-petalled white lotus.
In her right hand she holds a willow branch.
In her left hand a vase.
The vase contains the nectar of compassion,
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
Looking at you with kindness now,
It's as if Kuan Yin knows your entire life.
Ten thousand joys,
Ten thousand sorrows.
She sees it all and she allows it to be exactly as it's been,
Exactly as it is,
With tolerance,
Forgiveness,
Tender mercy and goodwill.
She looks at you,
Her cherished child,
With incredible love,
For she knows even more than you do,
Your extraordinary potential.
As Kuan Yin gazes into your heart,
She smiles,
My dear child,
My precious child.
She has appeared before you now with a simple wish to give her blessing,
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
Try to see Kuan Yin,
Bodhisattva of compassion,
Goddess of mercy,
Clearly before you,
White-clad,
Willow and vase in hand,
Her dress also blowing in the same breeze that brushes against your face.
Suspended magically in the sky and looking at you with kindness.
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
Imagine now that Kuan Yin comes towards you.
Flying through the sky.
She rises above your head in the sky above your head.
Hovering weightlessly,
She asks your permission to give her blessing.
Feeling touched by the tender mercy,
Feeling feelings of trust,
Your consent.
But first,
Kuan Yin waves the willow branch in a clockwise direction around you.
You feel a gentle breeze blowing away negativity,
Stress,
Suffering.
This gentle breeze that emanates from the compassionate Goddess is fragrant like lotus.
Feeling energized,
Feeling blessed,
Kuan Yin now pours the vase of Amarita,
Compassion nectar.
This compassion nectar is made of light and yet it pours down like liquid from the vase.
Imagine this beautiful white light entering the crown of your head,
Flowing through the inside of your body and out the lower side of your body.
Feeling your entire body and mind with luminous white light.
Aware of one in-breath,
Aware of one out-breath.
This white compassion nectar continues to rain down from the vase in Kuan Yin's arm,
Washes away stress,
Washes away tension,
Washes away fixed negative perceptions.
The nectar brings hope,
Optimism,
Joy.
You feel this white light.
The nectar of compassion has completely filled your entire body and now radiates out every pore.
There's no blackness,
No grayness,
No darkness.
Pure white transparent light.
Your body now looks and feels just like the body of Kuan Yin,
Purified empty appearance.
Allow this light to inform the mind on a very deep level.
All that we grasp at is illusion.
Nothing is I,
Nothing is mine.
Aware of conventional reality and aware of ultimate reality.
Appearing yet empty,
Ultimately pure.
The white light shining from your own mind and the area of the heart,
Out through the eyes,
Out through the ears,
Out through the crown of the head and down the lower part of the body.
Light shining out in all directions,
Purifying perception.
Aware of one in breath,
Aware of one out breath.
Allow this light to heal the past.
From this joyful,
Optimistic space,
See the past as like a dream and know that it's already gone.
Aware of one in breath,
Aware of one out breath.
Once again,
Kuan Yin has moved in front of you,
Suspended in the sky between you and the moon.
She hovers above the ocean,
Still smiling.
She's so pleased that you can see now your potential,
Your nature.
She's so pleased that you too have mercy,
Forgiveness,
Tenderness.
You notice now that just as Kuan Yin appeared from light and her outline became clearer and clearer,
Now you notice her outline beginning to fade.
She smiles one last time and then she's gone.
Aware of your own body and mind still in the form of transparent white light,
Of the same nature,
Ultimately pure,
Ultimately empty.
Allowing the boundaries of your own form to dissolve,
Simply holding the perception of transparent white light.
Still aware of the breathing,
Knowing one in breath,
Knowing one out breath.
A simple breath,
Just this moment,
Just the breathing,
Aware of one in breath,
Aware of one out breath.
Once again becoming aware of the large rock,
The sandstone boulder beneath you.
The 400 year old ancient can for tree behind and above you.
The sea before you.
Returning to the perception of this world,
Earth,
Wind,
Water,
Fire.
Aware of the physical body,
Feeling your bottom pressing against the mat or the cushion,
The chair.
Aware of the physical feelings of the breathing,
Nose,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Nose.
Knowing the feelings of being in breath.
Knowing the feelings of the out breath.
You might consider making a determination,
Setting the resolution,
The aspiration.
Try to bring some awareness of the luminous and boundless nature of mind into the ordinary perceptions of daily life and try to have tender mercy,
Tolerance towards other beings and try to be aware of their ultimate nature.
Relating to the conventional self,
Conventional others with skillfulness,
Healthy boundaries yet being informed by the deeper reality,
The ultimate nature of emptiness and compassion.
Emptiness like the sky,
Compassion like the ocean.
You might wish to thank Kuan Yin Bodhisattva for her blessing.
Invite her to continue to bless your life and the lives of all around you.
May we all be well,
May we all be free from suffering,
May we all be happy.
Let's practice bringing awareness for the next couple of minutes.
Let's practice bringing awareness for the next couple of minutes.
Let's practice bringing awareness for the next couple of minutes.
Let's practice bringing awareness for the next couple of minutes.
You might wish to recollect the good karma,
The merit generated through practicing mindfulness of the body,
Awareness of the breathing,
Using visualization of a deity to generate loving acceptance,
Loving kindness,
Compassion,
Forgiveness.
Dedicate the merit to a particular person who might be experiencing difficulties or to all beings.
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May all beings be well,
May all beings be happy.
May I maintain well-being in myself,
May I be free from suffering,
May all beings maintain well-being,
May they be free from suffering.
And that concludes the meditation.
