MEDITATION SKILL 37
Abandon Within Mind
MEDITATION SKILL 38
Abandon all Participation
MEDITATION SKILL 39
Loving Kindness 1
MEDITATION SKILL 40
Loving Kindness 2
MEDITATION SKILL 41
Loving Kindness 3
MEDITATION SKILL 42
Cultivate Forgiveness
Simple Instructions:
Relax through your body part by part until heaviness arises, use this deep relaxation as meditation object to enter stillness.
Purpose:
Benefits:
Summary:
In this meditation, you continue to develop the simple skill of allowing the deep relaxation that arises through not doing. This is a beautiful practice of sitting still and allowing your body to relax part by part starting from your forehead, moving down through your body to you feet. You then mentally feel the sense of ease with the deep physical relaxation allowing it to enter your mind.
This process will challenge and gradually remove defensive armours produced by your mind. Through repetition your mind will gradually allow the relaxation to access deeper levels of defenselessness until all defensive armour is removed and safety is experienced within the stillness of the mind itself. It also creates a basis for continuity and establishing of mindfulness with daily life.
Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.
The Eight Stages:
1. Ground your awareness within the experience of your body as it sits.
2. Gradually abandon effort by relaxing your forehead, eyelids, cheeks and jaw.
3. Gradually abandon effort by relaxing your shoulders, chest, upper back and arms.
4. Gradually abandon effort by relaxing your hips, legs and feet.
5. Experience the sense of ease within your body and allow it to fill your mind.
6. Abandon any effort ‘to do’ within your mind with gentle softening.
7. Allow your mind to drift, to float, to think – avoid adding to it through softening.
8. Allow the mind to gradually come to rest within stillness.
How Often?
Practice daily for 1 week by bringing your awareness to the experience of your whole body as it sits. Next bring awareness to your face and gradually relax through it part by part. Use slow softening breaths through your nose to help you relax. Focus on relaxing your eyelids by allowing them to droop and gently opening and closing them a few times. Your focus is on giving up all effort. Allow this relaxation to flow down into your cheeks and jaw. Experience the heaviness within your face.
When your whole face is relaxed allow the relaxation to flow down through your neck into your shoulders, chest and upper back. Then down into your arms, hips, legs and feet. Allow the chair or the floor to take the whole weight of your body, give up all effort within your body. Start to be aware of the heaviness of your body, the sense of ease that comes from not doing anything at all. Take this sense of ease as your meditation object and allow it to fill your mind.
At this stage you do not need to do anything at all, just allow your mind to sink, for mental processes to slow down and stop. Allow the heaviness to arise within your body and your mind to mentally sink into stillness. Once in stillness allow your mind to drift and settle by itself, avoid any doing as this will stir up the mind. The only thing you may do at this stage is relaxing with a slow breath out through your nose whenever your attention is drawn back out to engage with the world. Sit back and enjoy the process as your mind returns to its simplest form, pure awareness.
Investigation:
Observe effect on your mind with while relaxing different parts of your face and body. In particular be curious as to what it means to abandon into mindful non-participation. Investigate the process of the mind transitioning into stillness through abandoning all effort and be curious in regards to the natural arises of stillness within the mind through not adding any energy / doing to it.
Simple Instructions:
Abandon effort within your body and participation with your senses within the mind. Abandon abandoning & awareness of awareness.
Purpose:
Benefits:
Summary:
In this meditation, you continue to develop the simple skill of allowing the deep relaxation that arises through not doing to the stage of complete abandonment of awareness. This is a beautiful practice of sitting still and allowing your body to relax part by part starting from your forehead, moving down through your body to you feet. You then mentally feel the sense of ease with the deep physical relaxation allowing it to enter your mind.
This process will challenge and gradually remove defensive armors produced by your mind. Through repetition your mind will gradually allow the relaxation to access deeper levels of defenselessness until all defensive armor is removed and safety is experienced within the stillness of the mind itself. It also creates a basis for continuity and establishing of mindfulness with daily life.
Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.
The Eleven Stages:
1. Ground your awareness within the experience of your body as it sits.
2. Gradually abandon effort by relaxing your forehead, eyelids, cheeks and jaw.
3. Gradually abandon effort by relaxing your shoulders, chest, upper back and arms.
4. Gradually abandon effort by relaxing your hips, legs and feet.
5. Experience the sense of ease within your body and allow it to fill your mind.
6. Abandon any effort ‘to do’ within your mind with gentle softening.
7. Allow your mind to drift, to float, to think – avoid adding to it through softening.
8. Allow the mind to gradually come to rest within stillness.
9. Bring awareness to the area just above and between your eyes.
10. Gently soften any doing that you experience within there, gently disentangling awareness from experiencing anything, including itself.
11. Abandon any doing, including the effort to abandon or be aware.
How Often?
Practice daily for 1 week by bringing your awareness to the experience of your whole body as it sits. Next bring awareness to your face and gradually relax through it part by part. Use slow softening breaths through your nose to help you relax. Focus on relaxing your eyelids by allowing them to droop and gently opening and closing them a few times. Your focus is on giving up all effort. Allow this relaxation to flow down into your cheeks and jaw.
Experience the heaviness within your face. When your whole face is relaxed allow the relaxation to flow down through your neck into your shoulders, chest and upper back. Then down into your arms, hips, legs and feet. Allow the chair or the floor to take the whole weight of your body, give up all effort within your body. Start to be aware of the heaviness of your body, the sense of ease that comes from not doing anything at all. Take this sense of ease as your meditation object and allow it to fill your mind.
At this stage you do not need to do anything at all, just allow your mind to sink, for mental processes to slow down and stop. Allow the heaviness to arise within your body and your mind to mentally sink into stillness. Once in stillness allow your mind to drift and settle by itself, avoid any doing as this will stir up the mind. The only thing you may do at this stage is relaxing with a slow breath out through your nose whenever your attention is drawn back out to engage with the world. Sit back and enjoy the process as your mind returns to its simplest form, pure awareness.
Bring awareness to the area just above and between your eyes. Gently soften any doing that you experience within there, gently disentangling awareness from experiencing anything within your six senses, including awareness of awareness. Abandon any doing, including the effort to abandon or be aware and allow awareness to fold back into itself.
Investigation:
Investigate what it means to abandon the effort to abandon. Be curious about what it means to relax the effort of being aware of being aware.
Simple Instructions:
Send loving thoughts to yourself, than a loved one. Repeat loving thoughts to encourage feeling to grow. Transfer feeling to yourself.
Purpose:
Benefits:
Noble Eight-fold Path from the Buddha.
Right View is how we see the world and our view is what we change from wrong view to right view by practicing mindfulness meditation. Right Intention is what we do:
Meditation Skills 39-43 are concerned with cultivating and establishing wholesome / skillful qualities. In MIDL this has to be done with the correct timing. If we are still in the abandoning stage in regards to habitual defensive patterns we can use loving Kindness meditation as a way of settling the hindrances within our mind but also must be careful not to hide them through suppression. The same danger can be found here as in all concentration based practices,
To decondition habitual defensive patterns we need to bring them to the surface and soften into our relationship towards them. It is important therefore to be careful in the beginning of anything that hides or suppresses these tendencies. Once the MIDL meditator has mastered guarding then they should observe what positive tendencies of heart / mind are weak within them and intentionally cultivate those tendencies, such as unconditional love, kindness, gratitude, generosity etc. until they become their natural way of being.
Abandon, guard, cultivate and establish, this is the meditators path.
Summary:
In this meditation, it is time to recondition your habitual defenses by cultivating positive qualities of heart. The natural feeling of love & kindness towards yourself and others is practiced throughout your life. If during your life you have been habitually defending yourself then your heart may be closed and intimacy with yourself or others may be weak.
By bringing a loved one to mind, sending them thoughts of love & kindness then transferring the feeling towards an image of yourself you can recondition the mind and make these loving feeling towards yourself your natural way of being.
Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.
The Four Stages:
How Often?
Practice daily for 1 week or until the feeling of loving kindness flows freely. When practicing loving kindness we can follow two simple steps. During this meditation we begin with our self, then a loved one then our self again.
Step 1: Loving Kindness to yourself
Sit down comfortably, make a half smile on your face and bring an image to mind of yourself in a happy state of mind. Gently repeat:
“may I be well ........”
“may I be happy........”
“may I be peaceful........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow.
Repeat these phrases to yourself, in no hurry, and really mean it. Smile when you say it. The key is to develop the feeling of love that comes from this wish of kindness.
If you have difficulty feeling loving kindness towards yourself, then start with sending loving thoughts towards your loved one first. Once you can develop the feeling of loving kindness towards your loved one, then you can transfer the feeling towards yourself. Start by developing the feeling on your loved one, then bring yourself to mind. The feeling will then carry over. If the loving feeling fades then swap back to your loved one again to re-cultivate the feeling. Apply the feeling to yourself again until you also are a loved one.
Step 2: Loving Kindness to a Loved One
Now bring to mind someone you love or respect. Make a half smile on your face, and picture them in a happy state of mind smiling back at you. Gently repeat:
“(insert their name), may you be well ........”
“may you be happy........”
“may you be peaceful ........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow.
Step 3: Loving Kindness to Yourself
Once you can develop the feeling of loving kindness to your loved one then you can transfer the feeling towards yourself again.
“may I be well ........”
“may I be happy........”
“may I be peaceful.......”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow.
Investigation:
Investigate the effect your state of mind has on cultivate loving feeling. Play around with smiling, as if you want yourself or the other person to know how much you care. Observe the interaction between the feeling and your intention. Observe the flow and change of loving feeling when swapping from one person to another, such as your loved on to yourself.
Simple Instructions:
Bring yourself and a loved one to mind and repeat loving thoughts to encourage feeling to grow, transfer feeling to a difficult person.
Purpose:
Benefits:
Summary:
In this meditation, you take the foundation of loving kindness developed towards yourself & your loved one in the previous training, in order to recondition your relationship towards difficult people within your life. You do this by first generating the loving feeling towards yourself and your loved one then bringing a difficult person to mind while holding the loving feeling. This may bring up some resistance causing the loving feeling to fade. You then bring your loved one to mind, strengthening the feeling before going back to the difficult person until yourself, loved one & difficult person are all loved ones.
Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.
The Five Stages:
1. Bring awareness to your whole body as it sits.
2. Bring to mind an image of yourself and encourage the ‘wish for’ your own happiness and peace.
3. Bring to mind an image of a loved one and encourage the ‘wish for’ their happiness and peace.
4. Bring to mind an image of a person you are having difficulty with and encourage the ‘wish for’ their happiness and peace.
5. Bring an image of yourself to mind and establish the feeling of loving kindness in every cell of your body.
How Often?
Practice daily for 1 week or until the feeling of loving kindness flows freely. Your aim is to change the emotional charge attached to the memory of the difficult person so that they are become a loved one. With this practice your loved one, yourself and anyone that you introduce will all be the same in regards of our relationship towards them, all are loved ones. When practicing loving kindness we can follow two simple steps. During this meditation we begin with our self, then a loved one then our self again.
Step 1: Loving Kindness to Yourself
Sit down comfortably, make a half smile on your face and bring an image to mind of yourself in a happy state of mind.
Gently repeat:
“may I be well ........”
“may I be happy........”
“may I be peaceful........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow. Keep repeating these phrases to yourself, in no hurry, and really mean it. Smile when you say it. The key is to develop the feeling of love that comes from this wish of kindness. If you have difficulty feeling loving kindness towards yourself, then start with sending loving thoughts towards your loved one first. Once you can develop the feeling of loving kindness towards your loved one, then you can transfer the feeling towards yourself. Start by developing the feeling on your loved one, then bring yourself to mind. The feeling will then carry over.
If the loving feeling fades then swap back to your loved one again to re-cultivate the feeling. Apply the feeling to yourself again until you also are a loved one.
Step 2: Loving Kindness to a Loved One
Now bring to mind someone you love or respect. Make a half smile on your face, and picture them in a happy state of mind smiling back at you.
Gently repeat:
“(insert their name) may you be well ........”
“may you be happy........”
“may you be peaceful ........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow. Keep gently repeating these phrases to yourself, in no hurry, and really mean it. Smile when you say it. The key is to develop the feeling of love that comes from this wish of kindness.
Step 3: Loving Kindness to a Difficult Person
Once you can develop the feeling of loving kindness to your loved one then you can transfer the feeling towards a difficult person.
Gently repeat:
“(insert their name) may you be well ........”
“may you be happy........”
“may you be peaceful ........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow. If the loving feeling fades then swap back to your loved one again to re-cultivate the feeling. Than apply the feeling to the difficult person again until they also are a loved one.
Step 4: Loving Kindness to Yourself
Once you can develop the feeling of loving kindness to your difficult person then you can transfer the feeling towards yourself again.
Gently repeat:
“may I be well ........”
“may I be happy........”
“may I be peaceful........”
Investigation:
Investigate the effect your state of mind has on cultivate loving feeling. Play around with smiling, as if you wanted the other person to know how much you care, observe this interaction. Observe the flow and change of loving feeling when swapping from one person to another, such as your loved on to a difficult person.
Simple Instructions:
Systematically send loving kindness to yourself, loved one, neighborhood then the world.
Purpose:
Benefits:
Summary:
In this meditation, you take the foundation of loving kindness developed in the two previous training, to embrace all beings. This is done by first generating the loving feeling towards yourself and those close to you, then gradually widening it to your neighbours, suburb, city, country, world to the whole universe. In this way loving kindness is cultivated to be unconditional and not only focused towards those that you can benefit from. When deconditioning defensive habitual patterns, it is necessary to replace these habits, once weakened, with positive qualities of heart if we are to live a meaningful life.
Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.
The Six Stages:
1. Bring awareness to your whole body as it sits.
2. Bring to mind an image of yourself and encourage the ‘wish for’ your own happiness and peace.
3. Bring to mind an image of a loved one and encourage the ‘wish for’ their happiness and peace.
4. Picture loving feeling filling every cell of your body.
5. Expand loving feeling into the room around you.
6. Picture loving feeling flowing out the windows, over the suburb around you. North, south, east, west flowing outwards in all directions until it covers the whole world.
How Often?
Practice daily for 1 week or until the feeling of loving kindness flows freely. When practicing pervasive loving kindness we can follow three simple steps. During this meditation we begin with our self, then a loved one then gradually include all beings.
Step 1: Loving Kindness to Yourself
Sit down comfortably, make a half smile on your face and bring an image to mind of yourself in a happy state of mind.
Gently repeat:
“may I be well ........”
“may I be happy........”
“may I be peaceful........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow. Keep repeating these phrases to yourself, in no hurry, and really mean it. Smile when you say it. The key is to develop the feeling of love that comes from this wish of kindness.
Step 2: Loving Kindness to a Loved One
Now bring to mind someone you love or respect. Make a half smile on your face, and picture them in a happy state of mind smiling back at you.
Gently repeat:
“(insert their name) may you be well ........”
“may you be happy........”
“may you be peaceful ........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow. Keep gently repeating these phrases to yourself, in no hurry, and really mean it. Smile when you say it. The key is to develop the feeling of love that comes from this wish of kindness.
Step 3: Loving Kindness to all beings.
Make a half smile on your face expanding your awareness outwards to include all beings. Picture the loving feeling flowing outwards into the room, through the doors, windows and out into the world.
Gently repeat:
“May all beings be well ........”
“may they be happy........”
“may they be peaceful ........”
Pausing between each phrase to allow the loving feeling space to grow. Keep gently repeating these phrases to yourself, in no hurry, and really mean it. Smile when you say it. The key is to develop the feeling of love that comes from this wish of kindness. Carry over the loving feeling generated on yourself and your loved one and apply it to include all beings.
Investigation:
Investigate the effect your state of mind has on cultivate loving feeling. Play around with smiling, as if you wanted the other person to know how much you care, observe this interaction. Observe the flow and change of loving feeling when swapping from one person to another to all beings.
Simple Instructions:
Offer forgiveness towards your, then another for anything that has been done to bring hurt to your heart.
Purpose:
Benefits:
"Forgiveness does not say that what happened is ok, but rather it says "What has happened, has happened and I can not change it; I will not suffer over this anymore". As long as we do not forgive our self or others we will be living a life conditioned by our relationship to the past. By putting down our pain through forgiveness, the pains of the past come to an end and awareness more easily dwells within the present experience creating the conditions for wisdom to arise."
Summary:
It is time to develop forgiveness towards yourself and others in order to put down the pain of the past. Forgiveness does not say that what happened is ok, but rather it says "What has happened, has happened and I can not change it; I will not suffer over this anymore". As long as we do not forgive our self or others we will be living a life conditioned by our relationship to the past. By putting down our pain through forgiveness, the pains of the past come to an end and awareness more easily dwells within the present experience creating the conditions for wisdom to arise.
Instruction:
Meditation is practiced in a seated position.
The Three Stages:
Step 1: Ask Yourself for Forgiveness
Sit down, close your eyes and bring yourself to mind. Forgive yourself for all the things you have done to bring harm to yourself:
“(your name here), if I have done anything to hurt you in any way, knowingly or unknowingly, please forgive me.”
Say this slowly and gently with meaning three times and each time picture yourself gently saying back: “I forgive you.”
Step 2: Ask Another for Forgiveness
Now think of someone that you have hurt in some way. Ask for their forgiveness to allow healing by silently saying to them:
“(their name here), if I have done anything to hurt you in any way, knowingly or unknowingly, please forgive me.”
Say this slowly and gently with meaning three times and each time picture them gently saying back to you: “I forgive you.”
Step 3: Offer Forgiveness to Another
Now think of someone that has hurt you in some way. Offer them your forgiveness to allow healing by silently saying to them:
“(their name here), for any hurt that you have caused me, in any way, knowingly or unknowingly, I forgive you.”
Say this slowly and gently with meaning three times and each time picture them gently saying back to you: “thank you.”
How Often?:
Practice daily for 1 week or until the feel that you have forgiven your past. Then practice weekly or as needed to no longer create any past pain.
Investigation:
Observe the relationship between memories and past pain. Be curious about how your mind clings to and creates a reality called the past. A reality that if you observe closely can not be see, here, in this room, now. A reality that only you can know or experience. Observe how selective past memory is, how this selection is influenced by the emotion that was present when the memory was made. Observe how the mind focuses in on only one aspect, but when observed that the memory itself is unclear and uncertain, can not be trusted or believed. Observe the freedom and feeling of lightness that arises when you put down past pain.
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