Lessons

Lesson Info

Compassion and MIndfulness Part 2

This is an observation that I made I'm not just now but when you've done these may you like it's that sense of giving permission to to express the most positive or anything in all directions I think that's just so beautifully put yeah, we may write yeah may you take four giant steps you remember that game as a child, you know? But then they say can you? And then if you do it it's no good of course you can and now you also may so, um obviously this is one way of looking this practice is like sort of pouring clear water there are emotional system clean water water we put through emotional system and sometimes a little bit polluted by kind of negative attitudes and habits. This is like flushing out of our our emotional system it's kind of very, very practical. We talked in the last segment about thie article in the huffington post today, which you can see and download from our chat room that sort of gives some of the scientific basis for why this is actually if you can't feel it that it w...

orks you can at least know intellectually that it works um uh and sometimes that opens this up to being willing to try something stone um you can check out that article if you if you like to um if you find this practice a little discombobulating to your kind of rational flow, I'm going to vote for saying that's okay? You know it's sort of um 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 uh it's a big part of who we are you know, uh, 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, particularly for me personally working with the enemy has been very challenging over the years that when 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 on you didn't get there that easily, you know? So, um, 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 I'd urge everybody to not trying to skim across the surface of these experiences but really take the time to dig in deeper into the um whatever arises for you obviously it's a practice for oneself were 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 sense 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 take root and uh and have some effect on her life so I think I wanted to take some time now we have some time to really have an open discussion about this very important practice um and so we feel like we've really explored it and that everybody could go forward and and use it in their life as they as they see fit. So maybe if we can invite the online audience particularly to jump in here if you've done the practice along with us which is what I encourage if you're watching the video again just do it again with us you can use it as a guided meditation anytime you want to or you can practice it on your own but what did you experience and not theoretically you know, not what you think you should have experienced but what actually rose for you. So while the online crowd is gathering their their feedback and we could start with the folks in the in the studio here, maybe if you haven't spoken up a lot today feel free to jump in a well a well we haven't heard from you so much probably not today you have anything you want to say about what you experienced I suppose I should, um there's ah, a lot of emotional things that air wrapped up with what I haven't been able to express and that's connected with old habits and patterns you know when um you know there's there's been damage that's been deep and I'm actually feeling pretty good you know? And another uh, irritating a habit of mine is is when I'm not able to express it and I devolved into an emotional state of tears and I know what I want to express uh and I think probably probably the early part of my childhood and growing up was certain I could not express uh any anything of ah you know who I wass uh what I wanted none of these things but I could do it now and and that's the value in hell you know, it's what's going on now and and sometimes I'll reach out now playing to what's been and there's nothing there but uh, habits and patterns, old habits and patterns you know it's over it doesn't exist unless I you don't bring it forward but it's a miserable place to be tio thank you so much he's awfully emotional journey and then the online audience I really want to give you virtual hugs before someone comments here so when the rain is saying hugs to willow so his becker thank you for your courage, willow jennifer h says in dc dc dc t designs willow is truly proof of the worry away that must be very difficult for you so thank you for sharing that with our audience love right back well that with you you have all the way uh anybody else I'm going to also include the last time in this both of them I felt like um it was actually harder for me teo to do it teo do the love and compassion and all that all that energy toward the positive and people that I have loved it was easier for me to do it the people that I didn't but the imagery that was happening was kind of gory um there was like sheets and splattered blood but that's a word sheets and likes they was like a murder see my butt but it was it was much easier to give that that love and that um the energy like the positive energy too to the two of them I don't know what you called um the enemies I guess it was easier to give that love to the enemies then to the people you love yeah, and I felt I thought about it and I was like, why? And I felt like the people that I love and that are in that in that in that space with me they've reached there because they don't need if they don't need that because they've already gone they're you know they're they're just they're just such positive people and that no matter how much even if you don't give them any love, they'll still have love because they have so much energy towards them so you're harder on your friends they're not your enemies and and myself I guess I feel like I'm I'm good I don't need also in the in the air because I was born muslim or whatever, so I think this kind of comes from there um my family always say I'm praying for you and it really bothers me because I feel like I don't need you to pray for me other people need that energy because I'm good where I am and even if I'm not I will bring myself there you don't need to help me uh, so maybe I have that toward the people that I love is just like you're in a really beautiful place yeah, I hope for you to get into even a better place but these people that are not there I want them to be there okay, thank you. Yeah, sure and that's to keep working with you see, you know more and more things come up so that's this is just a little dip into the toe off of the loving kind of stuff how we doing online are folks running into this point, they are indeed they're sharing with us and they're sharing very intimately I think well, I was experienced there is touched so many people so thank you for reaching out our past your comments to her when we go to break but saves john was got an interesting take sage drona say sadly, I felt nothing in my heart heart area during this exercise in the first person loved on the last person enemy were the same on dh then sets he has a sort of follow up common saying I found it quite hard work too, to be honest but not in a bad way just challenging to feel those benevolent good wishes from the heart, especially for neutrals and the enemies on ceti has also respect and gratitude to willow safety half safety, health, happiness and ease and here's an overall comment actually coming from kenna uh, one thing that really resonated with me is when david mentioned that we don't have to worry about doing it right. I feel like in my practice I find myself focusing on am I doing this perfectly? And I've got to let go of that so that's a very good one yeah practices rugged everybody, you know, it's kind of it's not neat and, um, you know, that's an important point is that we're so accustomed to tryingto put hospital corners on our bed of her mind and actually the area of our mind and heart is a kind of more organic and fertile space than that so if we can soften up towards ourselves then you allow mohr to come through you actually get more knowledge more wisdom that way so that's a really good comment it's a very valuable comment um any other from the online world that I found very interesting thiss resonated with me and this is a message from coco coco saying is interesting the thing that they find they love about themselves is inside of the thing that annoys them most about themselves and coco's they actually cut off there comment here, but they're saying they got a creative mind so I'm assuming that the officer was some kind of creative feel I found that quite fascinating and I think I recognize that myself yeah finding the wisdom inside yeah some, um it's funny you know, everybody my nickname if if you didn't know is no gee that's what everybody calls me I'm no gee um and uh I earned that nickname by nudging people like kind of like did you remember to do this? And what about that and that kind of thing? So it can be very annoying to people and at the same time then people sometimes can really appreciate it too because it's really an expression part of it is an expression of care and concern for people and part of it is like on your own business day if you know so that kind of mixed cocktail you know of what our wisdom and our confusion our kind of usually closer together than you would think which is something we talked about quite a bit yesterday comments in about a half sharing was well thank you that's obviously resonating with our audience of lorraine is saying get it getting it right is what I suffer from to I didn't get writers a lot as I mentioned before the hearing about the images sahar mentioned let me see what others air getting in doing it right so these kind of processes are uh always work in progress 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 well you'd agree that it's always fresh it's like uh on gum 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 so the idea of continuing to work with this and taking a fresh take on it each time um is 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, uh, mindfulness awareness practices it just clears all the screens, you know, it's like it's, like the part of the uh uh practice where you just kind of clean up the space and you leave room for the next thing to happen. So I'm like bringing them my back from wherever it isthe even even now, if you do the mindfulness meditation and you're thinking about the my tree meditation, what would you do labelled thinking comeback so isn't that interesting? We don't wantto we want have some space in which we undo and a cz 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 symbolic community and some it's 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 one trunk aroma j um the idea that you can actually completely let go off all the different thoughts so when we do contemplative meditation is very good actually to do them kind of empty open sort of more open style off the shaman to meditation so I'll invite everybody to do that we began if you're just joining us we have a handout for that if you if you do enroll for the program which you could still do right yeah yeah so just click on it and roll and then you get the access to these downloads and I think we mentioned that you have we have a more in depth e book about all these topics that if you register for the program right if you actually reg support 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 reminder and all notebooks can keep put away kind of cell phones on stun everything will be there when you come back to it I promise um but for now we're just kind of like toe 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 across like it on the floor or sitting on a chair with your legs just placed in front of you your arms uh extended down on your hands resting on your knees or thighs extend your spine so they 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 and slightly so your head can be erect too. Shoulders relax your back a strong front of soft and open your eyes open with a soft town would gaze resting on a spot on the floor four to six feet in front of you your case is defused 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 floor of the breath about 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 in the future for some topic some entertainment some storyline, some drama when you notice that just labeled thinking and bring your mind back to the awareness of the breathing just practice that way for a few minutes wait so uh we're sort of wending our way towards the end of the second of four segments for the our third day here do you feel like you've been here for three days how does it feel? Yeah, it sort of feels like we're in the middle of some form of eternity here e I actually had an album that I did that um was called from here to eternity so um you know time ordinary time will resume for us and uh hopefully we bring some of these things back out into ordinary time on dh you know, the flow of daily life and that's really the art of this is touching in on the practice and then being able to extend it outwards into you know all the situations you guys have been talking about we really just want to get into what you're gonna cover when we get back from lunch well, ladies and gentlemen of the congregation here um we're gonna take another if you remember yesterday afternoon we took on the topic of success and we just went right for it um so I just thought why not shoot for the moon here with our workshop and we're going to talk about happiness and joy this afternoon what the heck are those and do we dare make any relationship with those in this short life of ours uh so we're gonna just look directly at what happiness and joy mean to us and again, not me, preaching or trying to convert you to any particular point of view, but just allowing our wisdom to come through and explore that together with a little bit of contemplation. So that, over this afternoon, speaking of happiness and joy, I just want to keep reiterating that I would love to meet all of you in person some time. That's kind of a very powerful part of teaching. This way from me is that people come into it this way and then show up. And I will be teaching a workshop at kripalu institute november tenth to fifteenth, which is a more in depth immersion into this. So if you're at all curious, you can go to cripple a dot oregon. Look at that creep, pollo and, uh, k r I, p a l. You in case you don't know what I'm saying, it just occurred to me.