We would like to start by finding a comfortable position for yourself in the meditation.
You might sit cross-legged on a meditation mat with your right leg on your left leg,
Or you can sit on a straight-back chair.
In either case,
Your right hand should rest on your left hand,
And the index finger of the right hand should touch against the thumb of your left hand,
With your hands resting palm upwards in your lap.
Close your eyes very softly,
As if you were only half-closing your eyes,
Similar to the way you might close your eyes to go to sleep.
So never squeeze your eyes closed,
And try to make sure there's no pressure around your eyes,
And you might like to make a scan down through the whole of your body to make sure each and every muscle in your body is as relaxed as possible,
Starting at the top of your head,
Scanning down through your body,
Relaxing each and every muscle as you go.
When your body feels relaxed,
You can turn your attention to relaxing your mind.
The best way to relax your mind is to imagine that you're filling yourself with happiness and joy,
So that your mind feels refreshed,
Pure and clean inside,
Free of any worries or anxieties whatsoever.
So we let go of all these things,
At least for the time that we're meditating,
Allowing our mind to become empty,
And imagining that inside yourself is just an empty space,
Without any organs or tissues,
Without any muscles or bones,
Just a hollow cavity inside yourself,
As if your whole body had been transformed into a sort of transparent bubble,
With nothing on the inside.
And within this empty space of our body,
We might cast our mind back to the picture we talked about a few moments ago,
Of the bright sun shining in the sky,
Or something equivalent like a full moon,
A shining star,
A crystal ball,
Or something like a sparkling diamond,
Whatever comes easiest to you.
And bear in mind that it may be more of a feeling than a picture.
People say they feel the picture more than they see it.
But in this particular case,
We allow that inner picture,
Whether it's clear or vague,
Whether it's more of a feeling,
To gently gravitate down within the space of our body,
Until it comes to a place somewhere around about the middle of our tummy.
This place inside us is particularly important,
Because it's a place where the mind can become peaceful for a change.
It's a place where the body and the mind can come into balance.
In effect,
It aligns with the turning point of the deepest breath.
And it's also a place of wisdom within our body.
And although the habits of our mind might be to wander all over the place,
But now we give our mind a place it can come back to in a soft and gentle way,
By resting it with that picture inside us,
Lightly and gently,
Consistently,
The whole of the time.
And if we are very gentle,
If we do it in just the right way,
It will conjure up a feeling of expansion inside ourselves.
And by saying that we see something inside us doesn't mean that we use our eyes to see it.
We see it with our mind's eye.
The actual eyes in our head still look ahead as they normally do,
Because they have nothing to do with the process of meditation.
But if we touch very gently with our mind's eye,
With that picture inside us,
We'll start to have the feeling of expansion and spaciousness inside ourselves,
Leaving us with a feeling that our whole body seems to melt away into the atmosphere around us.
If we reach a sense of perfect equilibrium in our meditation,
We'll have a sensation of lightness and expansion inside ourselves.
And if we have the feeling inside us that something is narrow or forced,
Blunt or stressed,
Then we shouldn't force ourselves to go further down that path in our meditation.
It's better that we open our eyes and start all over again in a gentler way.
Our mind wanders away from the center,
We simply bring it back again each time.
And if the inner picture disappears,
Then we just conjure up a new one.
If the picture changes,
Then we just follow it in its new form.
It's almost like a special TV screen that we have at the center of our body,
Which gradually warms up to give us a clearer and clearer picture inside us.
So in the beginning you may not see very much,
But it doesn't really matter,
Because if our mind is at a standstill at the center of our body,
There'll be a sense of contentment that arises in our meditation,
Whether we see something or not.
And we feel like we'd like to stay with this feeling for a long,
Long time.
Any sense of boredom with the practice will disappear,
And it's telling you that you're on the right track in your meditation.
In the meantime,
There's no need to analyze or have a mental commentary on what's going on in the mind.
We also have to resist the temptation of trying to make meditation happen,
Because in effect the meditation will happen all by itself.
We allow the mind to become peaceful all on its own,
Without trying to stare at the center of our body,
Without trying to use our eyes to see the object of meditation,
Just simply maintaining our mind at the center gently and comfortably.
If you have thoughts coming up in the mind,
Then do your best to ignore them,
And generally they will become less whole on their own.
If the thoughts are too many simply to ignore,
You might continue with that mantra recommended before by hearing the words samma arahan.
Samma arahan,
Samma arahan,
Over and over again in the mind.
If you find the mantra useful,
Then continue repeating it over and over again to yourself,
Until your mind becomes more free of thought.
Generally what happens is that as your mind starts to become more independent from the thoughts,
The sound of the mantra will die away by itself,
Almost as if you forgot to maintain the mantra.
If your mind is not quite still and is still wandering to other matters,
Then it's possible that you need to keep up with the mantra.
We continue by maintaining our mind lightly and gently in stillness at the center of ourselves.
And often there will be a sense of brightness or increasing illumination in the mind,
Something that stays with us during the meditation and sometimes even beyond that.
Some people get up from their meditation,
Go on to other things and the brightness still stays with them,
Even to the point that they can lie down to go to sleep at night and the brightness is still there at their center,
As if it will remain bright there all night long.
Often it makes us realize that the amount of sleep that we actually need may not be as much as we thought.
The mind is energized and refreshed from the inner brightness.
We feel that we need only a minimal amount of sleep each night,
Because mostly people feel they need six or eight hours of sleep each night,
Only because they're not sleeping very deeply,
Because they're spending all night tossing and turning in their sleep and their time of rest is not really very deep relaxation for the mind.
Sleep in combination with meditation allows us to relax on a deeper level,
Almost as if the nervous system is already relaxed and rested by the time we go to bed.
Although we may need an hour or two of sleep each night,
We find that this is ample for the mind that has already touched a level of saturdhi.
We find that the rest that we do have at night,
Even if it's a little,
Counts for a lot,
Because it brings a sense of joy and happiness to the mind all the time.
The nature of the mind when it becomes more refined is that it attracts our awareness inward,
Into a more refined dimension.
It's something that can happen to the mind whether we're sitting in meditation or lying down,
Whether we're walking,
Standing or attending to other activities.
As long as our mind is focused gently at the center in contact with that inner energy,
And it's creating a sense of refreshedness in the mind all the time.
But for now we continue to magnify and multiply the mind at the center of ourselves,
Touching gently in that central place,
A place of brightness or comfort,
A place where the feeling of relaxation is strongest on the inside.
Ishwara meditation just for a few more moments in silence now,
Until we come to the appropriate time.
If your mind wanders off onto other things,
Each time you realize,
Gently bring your attention back again to the center of your body as before,
Bringing it back for as many times as it takes to build up that sense of connectedness between your mind and that special place inside you,
That it doesn't happen instantly for those of us who are new to meditation.
It's not much of a surprise because our mind has built up a certain set of habits in our lives,
Because of all the struggles and conflicts,
Hardships that we deal with on a day to day basis,
The negative residue of all these things gets caught up in our mind,
Meaning that it doesn't come easily for us to iron out all the ruffles in the mind.
As we start to create a new set of habits in the mind,
As we start to iron out those negative emotions,
Little by little it becomes easier.
Little by little we are able to start to work with the mind in a way that goes deeper than just thinking.
It's almost like dealing passively with the mind,
Dealing with the mind only by a feather light touch,
Working with the mind without expectations,
Simply interested in how subtle the mind can become,
Gradually working towards refinement in the mind just by letting it be.
So we work with the mind lightly and gently,
Bringing it back whenever it wanders,
Working with whatever inner objects the mind displays for us,
With acceptance and understanding and compassion for ourselves,
Lightly and gently letting the thoughts die down into silence just for a few more moments now until we come to the appropriate time.
We allow our awareness to focus back down to the center of ourselves,
Making sure that our body and mind are still as relaxed as ever,
Engaging with the sense of brightness on the inside that helps the whole of our body and mind to shine forth with the light of love and peace,
Beauty,
Happiness and joy.
We engage with that special point at the center of ourselves that emanates a sense of light,
Feeling of well-being and loving kindness more and more,
Brighter and brighter,
Spreading out from the center to the front and behind,
Right and left,
Above and below,
Shining forth,
Pervading us with the light of love and peace,
Happiness and joy,
Pervading our hearts and our minds throughout our body and outwards across the land to cover people,
Buildings,
Homes and villages,
Towns and cities,
Fields and forests,
Mountains and valleys,
Lakes,
Seas and oceans,
From horizon to horizon until it covers the whole of our planet,
Feeling a loving kindness that extends deep into the ground,
Allowing the light to pervade deeper and deeper,
Embracing lives in all the layers of rocks and soil,
Stones and dust,
No matter how insignificant they may seem,
With the wish that all living beings may be well and happy,
May be free from suffering.
We continue to share this light of love and peace,
Happiness,
Beauty and joy,
Deeper into the water of the sea,
Deeper down to the ocean shores,
Allowing that light of loving kindness to perfuse the ocean waters,
With the wish that all the aquatic beings be well and happy,
Free from suffering,
We share this light of love,
Peace and joy more and more,
Allowing the light to expand without limit,
Embracing all,
Nurturing all,
Healing all,
Forgiving all without end.
More and more we allow the inner light to shine forth,
Extending deeper into the sky,
The atmosphere,
Outwards into the universe,
With its stars,
Planets,
Suns and moons,
Expanding outwards into the entire galaxy,
The seas of stars,
Reaching out to the entire universe,
With the wish that all beings living in this universe be well and happy,
Be free from suffering.
We extend that light of loving kindness to every living being in the universe,
With the wish that there may be peace amongst people,
Peace amongst nations,
May we witness lasting peace,
Love and care in all hearts and minds,
To bring peace to our planet within our own lifetimes.
We allow the unbounded light of loving kindness to shine with an all-embracing light,
More and more without end.
As we are spreading our loving kindness,
We might cast our mind back to the example in ancient times of an old hermit who used to retire to the seclusion of the forests for meditation,
Who also had the habit to favour the practice of meditation on loving kindness,
And he used to practice loving kindness meditation by day and by night.
Whenever his mind was at ease,
He would spread loving kindness,
Facing east with the intention that may all living beings in the direction in front of me,
In the eastern quarter,
Even the smallest creatures,
Two-footed,
Four-footed,
With many legs or no legs at all,
Be pervaded with my loving kindness.
May all living beings enjoy happiness and be free from suffering.
The next day he might spread loving kindness in the same way to the western quarter,
To the northern quarter,
To the southern quarter,
Upwards or below,
And he spread loving kindness in this way in all directions,
Consistently and regularly,
Until it became his habit.
The results of his loving kindness practice came back to him in many ways.
Whenever he slept,
He slept in happiness,
As if slipping into deep meditation.
The loving kindness would bring him joy the whole of the time and he would have a dreamless sleep.
If he ever dreamed,
Then it would be of auspicious things.
On waking he would feel refreshed,
Free of sleepiness,
And he always had a very radiant complexion because of his practice.
If there was ever any danger in his midst,
It would never harm him,
And he was loved and respected by people,
Celestial beings,
And forest creatures alike.
He was able to enter upon meditation easily and attain the absorptions quickly,
His mind coming to a standstill swiftly,
Because he was able to let go of external events easily.
He never bore any anger or grudges towards anyone,
And his mind was bright at the centre of his body,
Brighter than the sun at midday.
As a result of his loving kindness,
The forest became abundant with fruit,
Even animals that were sworn enemies like deer and tigers,
They came into the tindy of the forest,
Were able to co-exist in harmony,
Because their minds were pacified by the loving kindness they felt towards one another.
These are some of the fruits of spreading loving kindness,
Which appear even during the present lifetime.
So for the last few moments of our meditation,
We take the awareness of the brightness that has arisen in our minds,
Remembering the feeling as well as we can,
For a few more moments in silence.
