So I'd like to invite everyone to make a start on their meditation in the usual way.
Adjusting our sitting posture.
Relaxing all of our muscles.
And allowing our mind to become unburdened.
We take our time.
Slowly going down through all of these steps.
Acquainting ourselves with the habit.
Of allowing the mind to become still in a natural way.
If we have previously established what works well,
Works effectively for us,
We can stick to our well-worn way of relaxing body and mind.
In any case,
We can start by relaxing our sitting posture.
Taking our time to observe all the way from top to toe.
If we detect any part of ourselves that feels uncomfortable or cramped,
Then we can adjust our body.
With the idea of loosening up.
Allowing any tension to be released.
As if it's something we no longer have to hold on to.
Simply placing our whole body in a comfortable posture.
And allowing gravity to take it from there.
We can feel the way our circulation runs unimpeded.
Making sure every part of our body is as comfortable as possible.
Taking the time to slowly relax one muscle at a time.
We begin with our facial muscles.
Around the forehead.
Relaxing our temples.
Especially around our eyes and cheeks.
Having loosened the muscles in our face.
We can relax down through the rest of our jaw.
Our shoulders,
Arms.
Body and legs.
So that every part of our body can fully relax.
We take a moment allowing our relaxation to bring the feeling that we can truly rest right here,
Right now.
Withdrawing from the world around us,
We allow our awareness to come back to ourselves naturally.
To a place of stillness inside.
Releasing any tension from the mind.
Releasing any feeling in our mind of being blocked or tense.
We allow the sense of comfort to purvey the whole of our awareness.
From there we take our time to let our mind come to rest.
Letting the thoughts die down.
Until nothing remains but a sense of ease.
At the same time,
Our eyes aren't closed too tightly.
Our upper and lower eyelids barely touching one another.
Slowing ourselves down through our breathing.
We take note of the place where the breath reaches its deepest point.
As we breathe out.
We feel that we are letting go.
Of anything we're holding back.
Anything burdening the mind.
Allowing the breath to help us appreciate how comfortable we're becoming.
And to complete the process of coming back to ourselves.
We might imagine that we are all alone in an empty space.
Or perhaps in the midst of beautiful natural surroundings.
Within this space,
We find our sense of silence and peace.
Alone but not lonely.
Calm contentment within the silence.
We might pause to observe.
Almost listening to the silence within us at the deepest point of the breath.
Becoming centered within our own space.
Nothing disturbs us or distracts us.
It's as if we have brought the mind home after a long journey.
To its own cozy space within us.
Secure within that space,
We can let go of any thoughts or distractions.
Allowing them to disappear into the distance.
Thoughts may recur from time to time.
But did we find that they are no longer stealing our attention away?
No longer truly distracting us.
We can gradually let them subside in the mind.
As we no longer pay them any attention.
Whatever comes up in the mind.
We let it pass.
Without trying to analyse it.
If the mind becomes distracted,
We simply bring our attention back each time.
Returning to that inner space.
Keeping the mind pervaded by comfort.
We welcome our attention back.
Focusing on a feeling deep down inside.
Where there is a point of maximal comfort for us.
We lay the mind contentedly there.
Allowing it to remain free from distractions in a place where it no longer needs to engage or interact.
We simply continue with this sense of stillness inside us.
No real action is required on our part.
We let the mind remain without motion or movement.
The sort of attention required is very light.
There's no need to manufacture anything artificial in the mind.
Just like a pendulum,
It slows down.
Until it comes to a complete standstill.
No longer moving,
Because there's no need for it to move.
Now from this stillness.
The mind can go deeper.
Only if we need some sort of structure for our practice.
Might we revert to a visualization to anchor the mind in place.
Or perhaps the use of a mantra.
But either of these should arise from the same point of stillness within us.
A place of comfort.
Feeling free to keep the mind in place without disturbance.
We allow it to reach that point of perfect stillness,
The contentment,
Peace and joy associated with it.
For now we keep our mind gently on track.
Lightly and continuously.
At the center of ourselves for a few more moments now in silence.
If we find our mind wandering on to other things each time we notice.
We simply and gently bring our awareness back again to the centre space within us.
Helping to keep the mind in a constant place of stillness,
Peace and contentment.
We allow that peace to infuse the mind.
Letting our experience simply be.
Allowing it to settle.
We rest gently.
With whatever inner experience we have built up for ourselves.
Allowing us to go deeper at that point.
Almost like an oasis of kindness within ourselves.
We settle in stillness,
Going deeper into that inner aura of positivity,
With its own sense of luminosity.
We continue to allow our attention to remain with this brightness or inner experience,
Allowing ourselves to become immersed more deeply for a few more moments in silence,
Until it comes to time for some loving-kindness meditation.
So we continue to keep our awareness gently on track at the centre of ourselves.
The point of greatest contentment within us.
It may be a sense of positivity.
Well-being or even a kind of inner illumination.
Whatever seems to be the accumulated outcome of our meditation so far this session.
We keep our mind gently centered in that inner space.
As we delve more deeply into this oasis of inner kindness,
Touching it gently with our awareness.
We can set in motion ripples that extend outward from that central point.
Spreading throughout our being.
To every fiber of our body,
Every cell,
Every molecule.
However far that positive energy extends.
We can add to it the quiet affirmation.
That may we be well and happy.
May we be free from suffering.
Then from that same center point,
From the depth of this oasis of kindness.
We allow the positive energy to extend beyond ourselves.
Almost like an aura or a halo.
Radiating in every direction.
Extending a sense of well-being.
Brightness.
And loving-kindness to all the living beings in our midst.
We might imagine that those other beings,
Without exception,
Are uplifted by contact with the loving-kindness we are extending.
Together with the affirmation,
May they also be well and happy.
Free from suffering.
And live together in peace and harmony.
We extend our loving kindness in ever-widening circles.
Across the neighborhood to the city limits.
Across the whole county.
Across the whole state.
The neighboring states.
Throughout the country.
And eventually across the whole continent.
With the wish that may all living beings on this land be well and happy.
Free from suffering.
And live together in peace and harmony.
And wider still across the oceans to all the continents of the world,
To all living beings,
Whether on the land,
In the air,
Or in the sea.
With a wish that they all coexist in peace and harmony,
Be free from suffering,
And that true peace might become a reality within our own lifetimes.
Finally,
We extend our loving kindness above and beyond.
In all six great directions.
To the front and to the back.
To the right and to the left.
Above and below.
Infinitely outward into the universe.
Extending lovingkindness without limits.
And without bounds.
And if we wish,
We may think of particular loved ones.
Those for whom we feel a special debt of gratitude.
Those whom we know are going through difficult times.
Or even those who have already passed away.
We trust that our pure intention of loving-kindness can extend across the gulfs of space and time to reach those loved ones,
And that they too may be uplifted by our loving-kindness,
Wherever they may be found.
Their last few moments of our practice together in silence.
