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Chapter 1: What does compassion mean in the context of meditation?
Welcome back. One of the great fruits of meditative practice is growth in compassion. But what do we mean by compassion?
Chapter 2: How can we effectively be with suffering during meditation?
The word compassion in English originates from two Latin words, compassio. It means the ability to be with suffering to be with suffering.
Chapter 3: What is the significance of awareness of breath in compassion meditation?
Whether that's our own suffering or the suffering of others, we bring through meditation a compassionate attention to suffering, sometimes to be able to relieve it
But if we find that we are not able to relieve suffering, compassion at least allows us to be with the suffering, with the pain of ourselves or the other, in a way that begins to invite a gentleness to arise, a spaciousness to form, so that we begin to recognize that suffering is always temporary,
while at the same time witnessing to the pain that we are in or that the other is in, in that moment. We may not be able to relieve the pain, but we can accompany ourselves or the others in that pain.
Chapter 4: How do we bring suffering to mind without generating emotion?
Witness to it, receive wisdom from it, and do all that we can to ensure that needless pain is never encountered. This is compassion as the fruit of meditation.
Chapter 5: What techniques help us hold our suffering gently?
You'll notice that it's not a very emotional idea. Rather, it is a willed deliberate act arising from our awareness to be with the other or ourself in a moment of pain. To be able to be with this, to do this,
Chapter 6: How can we expand our compassion to include the suffering of the world?
Our meditation practice allows us to center ourselves on choosing to be with, on rooting ourselves in the fullness of compassionate attitude. And that's what we're going to practice today. So let's begin.
Chapter 7: What practices can we adopt to integrate compassion into our daily lives?
As we come to this moment of meditation today, let's remember that even entering meditation is an act of compassion. It's an act of compassion towards ourselves. And from our meditation will come compassion towards all other beings. And so making our ritual gesture, we step into this time
with the intention to generate compassion, to be present in a way that is open-hearted, to be present in a way that brings peace. Settling onto our chair or onto our cushion, we allow ourselves a moment or two to just let the body come to stillness. We feel the ground beneath us. We adjust the posture if necessary. We allow the spine to lengthen, the breath to open.
And we move now into the awareness of the breath that draws us regularly into the present moment. Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out. Breathing in, I breathe in peace. Breathing out, I breathe out all stress, all worry. Allowing the body to settle
the shoulders to drop, the breath moving into the belly, feeling the weight of the body as it sits upon the chair or cushion, giving the weight of the body to the earth beneath us. And gently as we sit, If there is any area in your life at the moment in which you feel you are suffering, you can bring that area to mind.
We do so not to arouse the emotion of suffering, but simply to notice where we are suffering. We continue to observe the rise and fall of the breath. We allow the breath to be an anchor that gives us stability and equanimity, even as we notice this area of suffering or pain. And bringing this area of suffering or pain to our awareness, we remind ourselves that there was a time before this pain
There was a time before this suffering. And there will be a time after this pain. There will be a time after this suffering. But for now, we simply hold the suffering part of ourselves gently. We hold the suffering part of ourselves as gently as we would hold a little bird. We can feel the delicacy of our suffering. We can feel perhaps it's fear or it's anxiety.
We can feel perhaps a movement of pain within us. But again, we are not trying to generate emotion. We are just noticing. And holding our suffering gently in front of our mind's eye, We can breathe peace towards that suffering part of ourselves. Breathing in, I acknowledge the suffering part of myself. Breathing out, I breathe out peace towards it.
Breathing in, I know the suffering part of myself. Breathing out I accept it with gentleness and peace. Breathing in, I breathe in the awareness of the suffering part of myself. Breathing out, I allow the suffering part of myself to touch ultimate and infinite divine compassion through my breath, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in and breathing out.
I acknowledge the part of me that suffers I acknowledge also the part of me that stands back and can observe the suffering from a place of equanimity, stillness and peace. All the while breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in and breathing out. I recognize I can be with suffering without being consumed or overwhelmed by suffering.
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