Let's make a start on our meditation together,
But before we do so we need to make sure our body is as comfortable as possible.
Closing our eyes very gently,
We settle into a comfortable position,
A position by which we feel relaxed,
Whether we're on a chair or on a cushion.
Ideally we place our hands,
Palms upwards in our lap,
But in practice we can rest our hands in whatever way feels soothing to us.
And the way we close our eyes is only just enough to stop our surroundings from being a visual distraction.
There's no need to close our eyes tightly,
Just enough that our eyelashes touch lightly together and so that we feel relaxed and calm.
You'll find that if we can close our eyes properly,
Then every other part of our meditation will fall automatically into place,
Because in essence meditation is about relaxing and getting comfortable the way we like it.
And we notice that if we are fully relaxed,
Just by the way it feels to us subjectively,
Then we'll be the one who's able to tell because no one else can know better than us.
If we are completely comfortable,
Then we'll know we've got it exactly right.
But in the meantime we relax our forehead,
Our face and jaw,
We relax our shoulders,
Arms,
Trunk,
Abdomen and our legs.
Make sure we're completely relaxed all the way from the top of our head,
Right the way down to the soles of our feet.
We can take our time to make sure that we are properly relaxed and there's no need to rush in this respect.
Having relaxed our body,
We can turn our attention to relaxing the mind.
For now we let go of any worries and thoughts,
Perhaps of the responsibilities in our lives,
Putting them to one side at least for the time being,
To allow us to relax and to let our mind make its journey inward at least for a while,
Allowing it to be relaxed and neutral and free of any worries.
And while we're relaxing ourselves,
As we get used to resting our mind,
We take a few moments to check in with ourselves,
To make sure we're fully relaxed,
Calm and content,
Or whether our attention has become distracted,
Wandering perhaps to other things we have in our mind.
At the same time we check ourselves for any residual tension or drowsiness that may have crept into our meditation,
Or whether we have any other feelings,
Any other thoughts that may be holding us back from a sense of peace,
Calm or relaxation,
Or holding us back from a feeling of purity within ourselves.
For now all we need to do is just let go of those obstacles,
Tensions,
Wandering thoughts,
Or any drowsiness,
And before long our mind will softly and gently,
Almost automatically,
Return to where it feels it likes,
To where it's balanced and relaxed,
Without us having to do anything much at all,
Nothing more than simply maintaining this feeling and this sense of calm and relaxation.
Whatever happens we just let it be and let it go,
Allowing our mind to start to feel the flow,
The flow of positive energy and purity that arises from within,
Eliminating any shadows,
Drawing back the veil that obscures the subconscious,
And often with meditation the way the true nature of the mind reveals itself,
Is rather like the moon breaking free of the clouds in the night sky,
Restoring to us an all-round inner vision,
But to achieve this all we need to do is just remain neutral and relaxed,
Allowing us to travel inward,
Further and deeper,
Becoming purer and clearer in our view of the world,
While attracting peace energy into our lives,
Gathering up abundance in the things we need,
Simply by being still,
Without needing to do anything,
But remain at peace in every moment.
And if at this point you find that your mind is still unable to settle,
You might need to conjure up some sort of anchor for the mind,
Perhaps an image such as a crystal sphere,
Somewhere inside the body,
Wherever you feel comfortable.
The image itself doesn't need to be clear as long as you feel it right there,
It's okay.
And if we're able to maintain this inner vision,
Before long we'll start to feel a light in weight,
We'll start to feel inwardly illuminated,
And we'll start to notice that even with our eyes closed,
It no longer seems dark inside us,
And we'll find that whatever happens in our meditation,
There's no need to pay too much attention to the detail,
We simply relax and let go,
Keeping in touch with the sensation of positive energy flowing through us,
Cleansing our body and mind.
And this inner flow comes together with a sense of happiness,
Flourishing,
A sense of being nourished from the inside by a happiness that is of a nature that we would want to share it with others.
For now we make the most of our quiet time,
Maintaining our mind free of worry,
Maintaining that sense of comfort and peace within ourselves,
Together with that flow of relaxation from the inside,
Each to their own practice in silence for a few more moments now,
Until we come to the appropriate time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
When your mind wanders off onto other things,
Each time you realize,
Simply 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 continuity at the center of yourself.
If the inner object disappears,
You can conjure up a new one.
If it changes,
Then we just follow it in its new form.
If thoughts arise in the mind,
We do our best to ignore them.
If they're too persistent to ignore,
We might make use of the traditional mantra,
Hearing the sound of the words,
Samaarang.
Samaarang.
Samaarang.
Over and over again in the mind,
With the source of the sound coming up in the center of ourselves.
And this gradual training of our attention to bring the focus back to the center each time can be thought of as a sort of exercise for the mind.
Often the mind is something that we give up on too easily,
Thinking it's a lost cause that we can never make a change to.
By building up a new set of habits in the mind though,
We can train the mind to engage more deeply with a sense of happiness from inside,
To start to channel a sense of fulfillment in life,
Simply by taking a few minutes of each day to meditate and reconnect with this sense of positivity on the inside.
Simply by sacrificing a few moments of each day,
We'll be able to discover many of the benefits of meditation that are much broader than the qualities that arise directly from it.
The way meditation benefits the mind is rather like the way a computer benefits from defragmenting the hard drive in the way it consolidates and streamlines the information in the mind,
Reducing the flakiness and speeding up our access.
Meditation tends to have a positive impact in our lives wherever it's most needed because hardly any part of our lives that doesn't involve the use of the mind in one way or another.
Because the mind is so central in everything that we do in our lives,
The regular practice of meditation can have huge ramifications for the good in our lives.
There's no real need to focus on a particular area,
We need to improve because one way or another meditation will fill in the things we lack.
Meditation isn't really about becoming a different person or a new person or even a better person.
It's more about training the awareness and understanding how and why we think and feel the way we do while getting a healthy sense of perspective in the process.
The more we meditate,
The more it shows us the way to be okay with the way we are right now and how we feel.
And this sort of self-awareness that comes as a byproduct of meditation allows us to be fully present in the moment,
Undistracted.
The buzzword that we usually hear relating to meditation as we apply it in our waking life is usually the word mindfulness because the quality of mindfulness contrasts with mostly how we live our lives,
Which is to be constantly caught up in all the little and big thoughts and feelings,
Constantly being critical or judgmental of ourselves or others.
And it's usually when we're caught up in all the little things that we start to make mistakes.
It's those mistakes that can affect our performance,
Whether it be at work or in our relations to others.
Some meditation would be more about the direct experience of the present moment.
But how exactly we use that present moment comes down to ourselves.
What meditation means to us or how we purpose it is down to our own experience of the meditation.
It's not something which anyone else can define for you any more than they could make you understand the taste of an exotic food by telling you about it second hand.
So in order to get to why meditation is special,
We need to practice it for ourselves.
We need to familiarize ourselves with the methodology and the subjective experience of meditation in the here and now until we can touch upon the defining aspects of meditation for ourselves.
So in this respect,
We use it for meditation for a few moments longer,
Returning again and again to the best of our meditation at the center of ourselves for a few more moments in silence until we come to time for some loving kindness meditation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So as we draw towards the end of our meditation,
We take a few moments to re-engage with that sense of positive energy,
That tide of relaxation on the inside,
To reconfirm that we still feel calm and contented,
Still feeling the flow and the sense of brightness from within.
And at this point we might bring to mind the warm,
Fuzzy feeling we associate with doing good things in our lives that we are proud of.
We allow these feelings to coalesce into a bright,
Clear sphere at our center,
Conjuring up a sense of gratitude in our lives,
Gratitude for all the opportunities we have to reconnect with the sense of relaxation and the possibility of a haven of peace within our body and within our mind,
A refuge of peace within ourselves.
And engaging with that feeling of gratitude,
We notice that the inner feeling of peace that arises has its roots in the sense of relaxation and contentment,
Allowing our mind and our awareness to be gradually clarified and purified as time goes on,
Without us having to actually do anything at all or worry about anything.
All we need to do is to allow that positive energy to flow within ourselves,
Together with an affirmation for ourselves to be happy,
Healthy,
Wealthy,
Successful,
Fulfilled in our good wishes,
Free from illness,
Danger,
Misfortune,
And to be surrounded by loved ones who are wise and virtuous,
And we take a few moments to bring to mind positive affirmations for our own lives,
Allowing the peace energy to become even brighter and clearer,
Purified through the meditation,
And extending that sense of gratitude outwards into our network of friends.
We realize how many of the opportunities in our own lives have come from those around us.
So even while we are comfortably ensconced in accumulated peace energies,
We share our loving kindness and peace energy for those we love,
Our family and friends,
Or towards whom we wish to express gratitude,
We might picture them and share the feeling and the positive energy with all of them,
Even if it's just with a gentle intention it will be enough,
Allowing the energy from within to flow towards them,
We might start by sharing within the room where we're sitting for meditation,
But if the peace energy flows further then we allow it to spread outwards beyond the building,
Outwards into the neighborhood,
And wherever it goes dispelling any misfortune,
Sadness,
Sorrow,
Or danger for all within its path.
Together with the affirmation that all sentient beings within the compass of our loving kindness be well and happy,
Free from suffering,
Fulfilled in their wishes,
Free from sadness,
Sorrow,
Or danger,
We allow this radius of our loving kindness to spread ever outwards in a widening circle,
The whole country,
Continent,
Across the whole world,
And outwards into the universe,
Wherever it goes extending loving kindness,
Peace energy,
Without borders,
Without limits,
Infinitely for the benefit of all living beings,
The last few moments of our meditation together.
