Meditation On Expanding One's Field Of Compassion

OK,

So for the meditation today,

I thought to focus on how to have impartial compassion,

How to be able to have compassion not just for a limited number of people,

Like the people we like,

Our loved ones,

And so on,

But to be able to open up our hearts and feel compassion for more and more people,

Including those that we find difficult to deal with,

Difficult to like,

And so on.

So we'll start with spending a few minutes settling down physically as well as mentally,

Meaning trying to be in the present rather than thinking about other places,

Other times,

And so on.

And then we'll generate a positive motivation.

And then we'll spend about 10 minutes just with silent meditation.

You can do meditation on the breath or another type of meditation you may be familiar with.

I'll give a little bit of instructions on how to do that.

And then I'll lead the guided meditation on compassion,

How to have compassion that is unbiased and impartial.

So first of all,

Check the way that you're sitting.

The way that we sit,

The position we sit in when we meditate,

Does have an effect on the quality of our meditation.

So one of the most important aspects of the posture is keeping the back straight if you can.

If you don't have some injury or challenge with your back that prevents you from sitting up straight,

Then you can just try to be as straight as you can.

Keeping the back straight does help the mind to be more clear and alert and focused when we meditate.

And if you're sitting on the floor,

Just have your legs crossed or arranged in whatever way is most comfortable for you.

You don't have to move too much.

If you're sitting on a chair,

Have your feet flat on the floor.

And in general,

It's important to try to be as relaxed as possible,

Not tense or tight.

So I invite you to do a quick scan of your body.

You can go from the top of your head down to your toes and fingertips,

Or you can go from the bottom of your body up.

Just check to see if you notice any tension,

Tightness anywhere in your body.

And if you do,

See if you can let it go.

You can just put your attention at that point and tell yourself to relax.

Or another way that's helpful is to imagine breathing into that place.

Imagine the breath that you're inhaling going to the place where there's tension and loosening it,

Releasing it,

So that that area can become more relaxed.

So just take a few minutes to do that on your own.

And also let your mind relax.

The way we do that is by letting our mind be in the present,

Right here,

Right now.

So our mind is often busy thinking about other things,

Things that happened earlier today or yesterday or any time in the past.

Or we may have thoughts about things we need to do later today,

Tomorrow,

Next week,

And so on.

So put all those thoughts aside for now.

You can always pick them up again later if you need to,

If you wish to.

But really try your best to just stay in the present.

And a good way to settle down in the present is by paying attention to the breath,

Being aware of the breathing coming in and going out.

So just do that for a few moments.

And imagine any other thoughts to be like clouds in the sky that are not permanent parts of the mind,

Permanent parts of the sky,

But come and go.

Thoughts never remain permanently in our mind.

They come and they go like clouds passing through the sky.

They're also not solid and not things that we must absolutely pay attention to.

We can just briefly note them,

Notice them,

And then let them go.

So use that approach with thoughts that arise in your mind during this meditation time.

And before we continue with the meditation,

Our teachers advise us to try to have a positive,

Altruistic motivation for the things that we do,

Especially when it comes to spiritual activities.

So the outcome,

The results of the things that we do,

Depend to a great extent on the motivation that we have,

Why we're doing what we're doing.

And the best motivation we can have is what we call altruism,

Caring about others,

Wanting to benefit others and not harm them.

So as an example,

You can think,

I would like to learn something here today during the meditation and the teaching and so on that will help me be a better person,

More able to relieve the suffering of others and help them have greater peace and happiness,

And also to create more positive energy for the world at large.

So something like that.

That's just a suggestion.

So you can use your own ideas,

Your own thoughts,

Words to generate some kind of altruistic intention to benefit not only yourself,

Of course we do want to benefit ourselves,

But to also benefit others as much as you can.

So now for the next 10 minutes,

You can do the meditation on the breathing or another type of meditation that you may know and wish to do that can help your mind to be more calm,

Peaceful,

Quiet,

And also more aware,

Have greater mindfulness about what is going on in your mind.

And while doing this,

If thoughts arise or feelings,

Emotions arise,

Remember that they are not permanent,

Fixed parts of your mind,

But are transitory.

Things that appear and disappear,

Come and go in your mind,

Similar to clouds coming and going in the sky.

That's a very helpful analogy to have,

That our mind is like the sky.

It's basically clear and pure and vast,

Has lots of potential.

Lots of good things can be done with our mind.

And our thoughts,

Memories,

Emotions,

And so on,

Are things that come and go in the space of our mind.

They're not permanent.

They arise,

They're there a few moments,

A few minutes,

And then they pass.

So we don't have to let ourselves be distracted by them,

Caught up in them,

Although it's hard to avoid doing that,

So it might happen.

But if we can remember that they are just transitory,

Like clouds,

That makes it easier to let go of them,

And then come back to the breath or whatever object you're meditating on.

So try to be aware of that.

Keep your focus on your breathing or your chosen object of meditation.

And if the mind gets distracted by thoughts,

Memories,

Or sounds in the room,

Or anything other than your object of meditation,

Let go of that other object and return your attention,

Your awareness,

To your breathing.

So really try to stay with the breathing or your chosen object of meditation as much as you can,

And keep coming back to it when the mind wanders away.

So remember to keep your mind,

Your awareness,

Focused on the breath or your meditation object,

And bring it back every time it wanders away.

And if you feel sleepy,

It can help to open your eyes just a little bit,

Just a crack,

So there's some light coming in,

And just have your gaze directed downwards onto your lap or the floor in front of you.

That little bit of light coming in can help you to stay awake and alert.

Now we'll begin the contemplative part of the meditation session.

So I'll be talking a little bit and then giving you time to contemplate what I spoke about.

And again,

The theme,

The topic is compassion,

Which is the wish for someone to not suffer.

It's something we all feel at certain times.

For example,

When someone we care about,

A family member or a friend or a pet,

Is in pain.

They may be in physical pain or in mental pain,

Unhappy,

Troubled.

And we notice that and we feel moved,

Concerned,

And want to do what we can to relieve their suffering and restore them to a state of well-being and happiness and peace.

So compassion is an important part of most,

If not all,

Religious and spiritual traditions.

And in Buddhism,

It's actually the basis of ethics.

Ethical conduct is basically not harming others because we understand they don't want to suffer and we don't want to make them suffer.

But it's also important just for our life to go well,

To have healthy,

Harmonious relationships with other people,

And for our own mind to be peaceful and happy.

And in recent decades,

Research has been done on compassion and kindness.

And the research confirms these ideas that are found in religions and spiritual traditions,

That compassion does help us to be healthier,

Happier,

Have a longer life,

Less stress,

And so on.

And so it's good to increase our compassion,

Not just wait for it to pop up in our mind,

But work on cultivating it so that we can feel it more of the time,

In more situations,

And for more people.

Now see if that sounds like something you would like to do.

Would you like to have more compassion in your mind and in your life?

And ideally,

Compassion should be extended to not just a limited number of people,

Our family and friends,

Pets,

People we like,

But to more and more people,

Even people we don't know and even people we have trouble liking.

So it does take effort to do this,

But it is possible.

And it's very rewarding,

Because if we can have compassion for more and more people,

Even difficult ones,

That will free us from the painful experiences of anger,

Hatred,

Jealousy,

Irritation,

Resentment.

So those are the things that sometimes arise in our mind towards people we don't like,

Or people who don't deserve compassion.

So if we can have more compassion for them,

Our mind will not suffer so much.

Our mind will be more peaceful and happy,

And we'll be able to find forgiveness towards those people.

So let's look at how we can start working in that direction.

Begin by getting in touch with this feeling of compassion.

Remember a time when you did feel it for someone,

Like one of your family members or a friend or a pet,

Or even a stranger,

Someone you didn't know,

But you observed that person or that person.

Or was frightened or some kind of painful experience.

And you were able to identify that,

Empathize with that person or that being,

Feel moved,

Touched,

And feel that person's presence.

Empathize with that person or that being,

Feel moved,

Touched,

And felt the wish to do something to relieve their suffering and help them in whatever way you could and in whatever way they needed.

So try to recall a situation like that,

And then get in touch with that feeling of compassion,

Wishing that other person or being to not suffer.

So even in situations where we may not be able to actually help the person who is in need,

We don't have the skills,

Or we're just not in the right situation where we can help them,

It's still wonderful to be able to feel compassion,

To feel that concern and that wish to help.

So as I said,

It's easy to feel compassion for people we already know and care about.

It's a little more difficult to feel it for strangers,

People we don't know very well,

But it's possible.

So let's imagine that and see if we can generate compassion for someone we don't know or not so close to.

So just imagine a situation where maybe you're in a public place,

In a supermarket,

Shopping mall,

Or walking down the street,

And you notice somebody in need of help.

Maybe they've fallen down on the ground,

Or you just look at their face and can see that they're really upset,

About to burst into tears,

Or maybe already crying.

So you can imagine whatever situation you like,

But imagine that situation.

And even though you don't know this person,

You don't know their name,

You've never met them before,

But you recognize they're another human being like yourself,

Another sentient being like yourself,

Who doesn't want to suffer,

Doesn't want to be unhappy,

Doesn't want to be in pain,

And they want to be happy,

Free of pain,

Free of suffering.

So with that awareness,

That understanding,

See if you can generate compassion for this person,

Wishing that person could be free of whatever is troubling them.

And now let's see if we can generate compassion for someone that is more difficult to feel compassion for.

Bring to mind someone you know.

It could be someone you actually know,

Or it could be a public figure.

And try to remember if it ever happened that you heard that this person was going through some difficulties,

But instead of feeling compassion,

You may have thought,

Well,

They deserve it.

It's good that that's happening to them,

Or something like that,

Kind of the opposite state of compassion.

And then step back from that kind of thought or feeling and ask yourself,

Is that the kind of thoughts and feelings that I would like to have?

Do I want to perpetuate such thoughts and feelings and have them more and more for more and more people?

And if you don't wish to continue having such thoughts and feelings,

There are things we can do to change them.

One is just to recognize our common humanity.

As human beings,

As living beings,

We all simply want to be happy and have good experiences,

And we wish to not suffer,

To not have any bad experiences.

So see if you can recognize that about this other person.

And that wish to be happy and avoid suffering is probably what lies behind everything this person does and says.

And if it seems that some of the things they're doing are counterproductive,

They're just creating problems and suffering for themselves,

As well as others,

Well,

That's because of confusion.

The mind can get very confused and not be able to think clearly,

And there may be a lot of wrong thoughts and disturbing thoughts and emotions that take over the mind and kind of control the mind.

And they don't know how to manage their mind.

See if you can recall if that's ever happened to you.

Has your mind ever been taken over by disturbing thoughts and emotions that you didn't know how to manage?

And maybe you've been able to control your mind,

But you don't know how to manage it.

Disturbing thoughts and emotions that you didn't know how to manage,

And maybe you did have some awareness that what you were doing,

What you were saying wasn't right,

But you couldn't control it.

You just acted on the basis of this confused,

Disturbed state of mind.

And if you can recall that happening to yourself,

Would you want other people to judge you by that?

To see that that's how you are,

That's the kind of person you are all the time,

And you never do anything right,

And you don't have any positive qualities.

Do you want other people to think that way about you?

So then apply that to the other person.

They're not 100% bad.

They just sometimes get confused and don't know how to manage their mind,

Their thoughts,

Their emotions,

And they mess up.

But that's not who they are and how they are 100% of the time.

They do have some good qualities.

They do do some things well.

So with that understanding,

See if you can open your heart to this person and feel compassion for them.

Even if you're not able to do that with 100% sincerity,

It might be helpful just to say to yourself some words like,

I wish you to be happy.

I wish that you could be free of your suffering and the causes of suffering.

Let's just mentally dedicate the positive potential,

The merit we've created so far.

May this be a cause for all beings to be free of suffering and the causes of suffering,

To have happiness in its causes,

Up to the highest happiness of awakening.