Compassion and Mindfulness Part 2
Lesson 17 from: FAST CLASS: Meditation for Everyday LifeDavid Nichtern
Compassion and Mindfulness Part 2
Lesson 17 from: FAST CLASS: Meditation for Everyday LifeDavid Nichtern
Lessons
Introduction - Why Meditate?
15:12 2How to Meditate - Taking Your Seat
12:59 3Placing Attention on Breath
04:32 4Labeling Thoughts as Thinking
06:35 5How to Meditate - Leaving Some Space
12:19 6Bringing Meditation Into Everyday Life
11:30 7Digging Into the Practice Part 2
05:51 8Obstacles Along the Way
08:29Obstacles Along the Way Part 2
08:59 10Body, Emotions, Mind, Stress, Anxiety
26:56 11Body, Emotions, Mind, Stress, Anxiety Part 2
06:28 12The True Meaning of Success
18:28 13The True Meaning of Success Part 2
03:40 14Developing Compassion for Ourselves & Others
04:39 15Compassion for Ourselves & Others Part 2
29:34 16Compassion and Mindfulness
26:27 17Compassion and Mindfulness Part 2
08:11 18Happiness and Joy
18:15 19Happiness and Joy Part 2
04:06 20How to Go Forward
10:59 21How to Go Forward Part 2
07:31Lesson Info
Compassion and Mindfulness Part 2
if you find this practice a little discombobulating to your kind of rational flow, I'm gonna vote for saying that's okay. You know, it's sort of maybe takes away some of that intellectual edge and puts us into more of a heart space. So let's face it, we're human beings, it's a big part of who we are. You know, we can't figure everything out all the time. But my personal experience has been, this practice is extremely powerful and just in terms of like shifting around, um loosening up, uh huh, particularly for me personally, working with the enemy has been very challenging over the years, That one I never find that easy. People say I just dismissed the enemy and stuff like that. If you're my enemy, you're in a lot of trouble and you didn't get there that easily, you know, so, you know, there's a kind of sense of not just trying to conceptually blow away your aggression but really experiencing it, really feeling the weight of it. Um is one way to go with this. So I'd urge everybody to no...
t try to just skim across the surface of these experiences, but really take the time to dig in deeper uh into the um whatever arises for you, because obviously it's a practice for oneself. We're wishing well being for others and there's a ripple effect from that, but we're obviously working with ourself and our own conditioning and since we're reconditioning ourselves, so um like any other practice, we've talked about steadiness, perseverance, and it is going to be what, what makes it um take root and have some effect on our life. So these kind of processes are always work in progress and that idea of sort of starting where we are and taking a fresh start. It's interesting over years to do a practice like this, you know, for years and years and years and still see, I think willow, you'd agree that it's always fresh. It's like, and that's encourages we call it. Sometimes beginner's mind the idea Suzuki roshi was a famous japanese and teacher said in the experts mind there are a few possibilities, but in the beginner's mind there are many. Mm So the idea of continuing to work with this and taking a fresh take on it each time. Um it's very much part of the part of the idea. Uh I think I wanted to just invite us to remember and come back to the simple mindfulness meditation practice. We have a little bit more time in this segment. I thought we could do a five minute sit together. The beauty of the mindfulness awareness practices. It just clears all the screens. You know, it's like, it's like the part of the uh huh practice where you just kind of clean up the space and you leave room for the next thing to happen. So like bringing the mind back from wherever it is. Even even now if you do the mindfulness meditation and you're thinking about the my tree meditation, what would you do? Label it thinking and come back. So isn't that interesting? We don't want to we want to have some space in which we undo. And as we said yesterday even self liberate the antidote, even working with the um the practice becomes very very streamlined dissolving into. There's a saying from a wonderful practice that we do sometimes in the shambolic community and some this this is a line from it, good and bad, happy and sad. All thoughts vanish into emptiness like the imprint of a bird in the sky. So that's from trunk or image. Um the idea that you can actually completely let go of all the uh different thoughts. So when we do contemplative meditation is very good actually to do the kind of empty open sort of more open style of of the shaman to meditation. So I'll invite everybody to do that. And we again if you're just joining us we have a handout for that. If you if you do enroll for the program which you can still do right? Yeah. Yeah. So just click on it and roll and then you get access to these downloads. And I think we mentioned that you have um we have a more in depth e book about all these topics. Um That if you register for the program right? If you actually register for you can you can download those if you purchase the program. So um for now take your, take your seat and I'll walk us through this practice again for those of you who are new to it and just remind her and all notebooks can put away kind of cell phones on stun, everything will be there when you come back to it I promise. But for now we're just gonna let go up all that kind of interactive stuff and everybody at home if you're um or wherever you are listening online just take a comfortable seat either cross legged on the floor or sitting on a chair with your legs just placed in front of you. Your arms extended down on your hands resting on your knees. Or thighs extend your spine so that you have a nice upright, clean posture. Just feel the kind of refreshing quality of taking your seat strong present quality of that and tuck your chin in slightly so your head can be erect too, shoulders are relaxed, your back is strong in front of soft and open. Your eyes open with a soft downward gaze Resting on a spot on the floor 4 - six ft in front of you. In your case is diffused, your sense perceptions are awake but soft, dial down a little bit, feeling of containment of just being right on that spot right here right now and once you're settled in that way begin to bring your attention your awareness to your breathing in and out at the tip of the nose if you like. You can follow the breath moving the abdomen in and out forward and back. Or you can just track the entire flow of the breath throughout the body and rest your attention with a light touch onto the breathing feeling of the breathing, the sensory experience of it. That's the object of this meditation. And when you find that your mind has wandered away foraging through the past and the future for some topic. Some entertainment, some storyline, some drama when you notice that just label it thinking and bring your mind back to the awareness of the breathing, So just practice that way for a few minutes. Yeah.
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