Guided Nondual Meditation by Michael Taft
Meditation
Now we’ll be sitting really, really still for an hour. I will probably be moving to sometimes have a drink because I even have to speak, but aside from that I’ll attempt to be as still as possible. So make certain that if possible, your hips are form of rolled just ever so barely forward. We often do this by having our hip joints just above our knee joints just a little bit, in order that our pelvis rotates forward only a tiny bit. It gets that nice curve in your lower back and that’ll just make your spine easily lift upward. The very, very tip top of your head the topmost top point should feel prefer it’s just being almost like pulled upward with an invisible thread to the ceiling.
And you possibly can move around just just a little bit together with your spine but you’ll find there’s just this one perfect spot where the absolutely smallest amount of effort is required to maintain the back upright. The truth is, it almost just seems like it’s floating upright and appears like all of you may have your chin tucked which is nice. We don’t wish to get right into a situation where our chin’s stating like that and even too tucked. Just just a little bit in order that it keeps that spine feeling good. After which your hands either like this or like this or this. All good.
Now as usual I’d such as you to simply check in with yourself. How’s it going or as I say, what’s it wish to be me right away? The thoughts, the emotions, your regular, just how’s your body feel? How’s your life going? Just the entire thing. Just check-in. Take the temperature or the weather report. Nevertheless it’s very vital that as you do that that irrespective of what the weather is, it’s perfect. Okay, even when you’re upset and in a bunch of pain and all that for now, for the meditation, that’s just the way in which it’s and that’s perfect. Okay so we’re not judging our state, we’re just checking in with how we’re doing. So let’s just do this for some time. How is it going? What’s it wish to be you right away?
Good, and next I’d such as you to simply tune right into a sense of spaciousness, a way of openness, a way of ease. And from that space of open ease, just begin to note the rising and falling breath. So we’re not specializing in it, we’re not narrowing attention. Attention may be very broad, it’s vast and open, but into that awareness, we’re noticing that the sense of the breath appears rising after which appears falling with none effort. We don’t must give attention to it, we’re just aware of it.
We’re being absolutely still. And just notice how awareness is already aware. We don’t must do anything to make ourselves aware. We’re not flipping on some special awareness button, we’re not extra efforting or if we’re, it’s not helping. That doesn’t do anything. Awareness is already there. It’s already there. And into that awareness, we’re noticing that the sense of the breath rising and falling is just occurring. So let’s do this together now for just a little while.
Very gently, just staying with the breath. Again, not focusing hard, not trying too hard, just very gently noticing the body sensations of respiratory appear in awareness and staying with that. Mainly simply resting as spacious awareness, already existing easy open free awareness.
Now I need you to make certain that you simply’re aware of each moment of that breath. Again, not specializing in it hard, but simply aware of it throughout its entire cycle. Notice the arising of the in-breath and the movement of the in-breath, after which the top of the in-breath. After which sometimes there’s a pause there. After which notice the start of the out-breath and right through each moment of the out-breath, after which the top of the out-breath. After which often, there’s a pause there as well. So regardless that we’re not narrowly specializing in it, we’re just aware of each moment of it without missing even a millisecond.
Good. Now often in here, we do various sorts of visualizations. Often, I leave it just a little open. You’ll be able to get form of creative together with your own process, but tonight we’re going to do a really specific visualization of the bodhisattva named Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Avalokitesvara has a thousand arms and every of those arms is symbolic of reaching out to assist relieve the suffering of some beings. So the bodhisattva has metaphorically infinite arms performing infinite acts of compassion for infinite beings. And the mantra of this bodhisattva is the very famous mantra om mani padme hum.
So I need you to picture the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara. Picture a meditating buddha-like figure, but with a thousand arms in a circle around them, capable of take infinite motion on behalf of all beings. And if you ought to you possibly can even silently, in your mind recite the mantra om mani padme hum if that appeals to you. Either way, I need you to see the eyes of Avalokiteshvara opening. Including the third eye opening and gazing into your being. And because the eyes of Avalokiteshvara open and gaze into you, you’re feeling that profound sense of each wisdom, the wisdom of emptiness, the wisdom of clarity, and after all also the tremendous heart of kindness, of caring, of joy and compassion.
What’s compassion? Compassion is that feeling that you simply actually care and need to do something to assist. It’s motivational. It’s not simply a sense. It’s much deeper than that. Sometimes we mix it up with empathy. It’s different than empathy. Empathy means you’re having the identical feeling because the person you’re fascinated by. Compassion is about wanting to assist. Caring deeply and wanting to assist. So feel that tremendous sense of being considered a being who matters. Feeling loved, feeling cared for, feeling kindness, feeling joy, feeling really met in all of your sorrows and all of your difficulties by this loving radiant bodhisattva. And really, see a beam of pure compassion coming from the center of Avalokiteshvara into your heart and feel it filling up your being. And I’ll just recite the mantra here just a little bit. You’ll be able to just do it silently when you wish, just a number of times.
om mani padme hum
om mani padme hum
om mani padme hum
om mani padme hum
om mani padme hum
om mani padme hum
om mani padme hum
Continuing to feel that radiant compassion flowing into your being. Filling your being. Loving and healing your being.
Good. Now respiratory in, take the image of Avalokiteshvara into your heart. Breathe Avalokiteshvara directly into your personal heart where the image plugs in and begins to radiate powerfully from your personal heart. In order that the energy and wisdom and compassion of Avalokiteshvara, which translates because the one who hears the cries of the world, starts beaming out out of your being.
I need you to picture this energy radiating out. And I need you to very clearly picture it helping everyone it touches, bringing kindness, bringing gentleness, bringing caring, bringing joy, healing, love, connection to each being it touches. See and feel that very clearly. See the happiness, the love, the enjoyment on the faces of all of the beings it touches, or if it’s non-human beings see their tails wagging or them jumping around or whatever they do after they feel joy and love and being cared for and peace. Really feel that energy radiating out powerfully, powerfully in all directions, and see it clearly affecting all beings. Generating infinite joy, infinite compassion, infinite kindness, and caring. There isn’t a limit. It just keeps pouring through.
Remaining perfectly still.
Good, now we’re going to flip it around and as a substitute of bringing joy and kindness and caring and compassion, I need you to absorb all of the sufferings into ourselves. We’re taking in all of the pain, all of the sorrow, all of the suffering of each being within the universe. And we’re feeling it. Every beaten and abused child, every mistreated animal. All of the suffering of all of the beings in every single place, not only on earth, but in every single place. Bring it into yourself. Take it on in order that they don’t must feel it. We take their pain, we take their suffering into ourselves and feel it deeply.
Seeing it as empty, seeing it as handleable due to our vast spacious awareness. There’s good enough room to take it on without it becoming an issue. But neither can we attempt to avoid it, we fully feel it. Let it break your heart. Let it break your heart wide open. If it’s not breaking your heart, imagine just a little more clearly what’s really happening on the market.
With each in-breath we absorb increasingly and more of the sorrows of the world. Burns it away, burns it away with no remainder, burns it away with no ashes. We feel it deeply. Don’t hold back, let yourself really feel it. The love and wisdom of Avalokiteshvara in our own heart burning all of it away.
Good. Now let’s switch back. We’ve taken in all of the pain, taken in all of the suffering. Now having burned that every one away entirely with none remainder but wisdom, light, the compassion, the compassionate warmth of Avalokiteshvara beams out with joy and kindness and caring bringing relief to the sorrow. Bringing kindness, the kindest most helpful touch, warmth, caring, compassion to all beings in every single place.
Everyone’s scared and sad and trapped and alone and with none help feels suddenly this touch of kindness, this ray of heat and caring. The caring that comes from a very broken open heart that feels so deeply. Radiating out in all directions. Really feel it, joy kindness, caring, wisdom, compassion, love.
Good, now allow the image of Avalokiteshvara in the center to simply dissolve into space. Let all thoughts dissolve into space. Let all sense of the body dissolve into space. Let emotion dissolve into space. Let all conceptual fabrication dissolve into space and easily rest within the open awareness of the good perfection.
Free from all doing. Free from all distraction. Free from all concepts. Simply resting as the attention that’s all the time present. It’s all the time there. There’s nothing to do except allow awareness to be itself.
When you notice yourself getting caught up in thought, just let go and fall back into open awareness. When you get caught up in thought, again, just chill out again. Let it go. Drop back into easy awareness, spacious open awareness.
Even when the mind kickstarts into thought a thousand times, just let return into open space a thousand and one.
Letting go of all sense of doing. Letting go of any need to vary anything. Letting go of any arising thought just allowing it to turn into space. Not hanging on to it. So we come back to our own vast, spacious awareness which is already present, which is primordially present. It’s all the time been there. Just come back to that and rest. Wide awake, crisp, clear, unfabricated, absolutely pristine, open, complete, awake.
Good. Now again, allow inside this vast spacious awareness, the vision of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara to arise with thousand arms of compassionate helpfulness and once more radiate out this love and joy and kindness and caring in all directions. And feel it for yourself too. You’re a being too. Don’t skimp, don’t leave yourself out. Avalokiteshvara has wisdom and kindness for all. Joy and kindness and love and caring filling you up and radiating out in all directions, touching the center of all beings in every single place.
Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum.
Good. Let’s end the meditation there. Be at liberty to maneuver and stretch. Be at liberty to maintain feeling the compassionate heart of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara for so long as you wish. That’s all the time available.
Dharma Talk, Q&A
In other languages, Avalokiteshvara can also be generally known as Guanyin or Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Chenrezig.
I talk rather a lot about emptiness, we notice the emptiness of things. We notice an unlimited space, any particular appearance, any spontaneous appearance of anything tends to or can are inclined to just dissolve into space, or be seen as space. And that is–this understanding of emptiness and the flexibility to essentially notice it–is the wisdom component of your personal already existing bodhisattva nature.
All of us have a bodhisattva nature that’s already there. It’s already complete. It’s already fully awake in its own right. And its wisdom component is that it sees the emptiness of all things. That doesn’t mean they’re not there. That doesn’t mean they’re nothing. It signifies that they haven’t any inherent nature of their appearance within the fullest sense of that term, but they don’t have a ground. And in order that’s the wisdom a part of our wisdom nature. That’s our deepest wisdom, this understanding of emptiness.
But what’s funny is people are inclined to lean into just that, like that’s it and there may be this sense that awareness itself, vast spacious awareness, this clear awareness is one way or the other form of neutral or kind of sterile or kind of cold. Or once we say it’s empty, that may feel prefer it’s form of vacuous in kind of an uncaring way. And that it has some form of supreme neutrality to it. But that will not be the case. Bodhichitta, the woke up mind of your already existing buddha nature, has that wisdom component of emptiness, however it also has the compassion component which is just as deep and just as vital. It’s totally not neutral. It’s utterly kind and utterly caring and warm. Now that doesn’t mean it all the time seems like overwhelming gushy–it could be, you already know, strong or weak or have different flavors, however it is actually caring. It is actually kind and warm and the 2 things come together. They go together. You’ll be able to’t have one without the opposite.
So for instance, because emptiness shows us the nonduality of self and other, there’s no real boundary between self and other. That’s the wisdom of emptiness showing the nonduality of this apparent boundary because that boundary is empty, everyone else is us and we’re them. And in order that makes that immediate kindness, that immediate caring, and immediate compassion totally natural. It’s not something we have now to generate, it’s just immediately there.
And in the identical way the compassion because it arises if you really see the suffering of others and it breaks your heart open. That broken heart will show you the emptiness, will show you the nondual nature of every little thing. The proven fact that there’s no real boundary and that any sense of a boundary is a form of a short lived and contingent fiction that we’re using to simply move through the world more easily. But that shattered open heart of total compassion will just reveal the emptiness of that immediately. And the kind of immediate and intimate and direct caring for others is the easy result.
That doesn’t must make us silly. There’s such a thing as idiot compassion, right, where I suppose within the west we’d call it something like enabling where someone is killing themselves with whiskey and so they just wish to drink. Your compassion doesn’t cause you to provide them one other bottle of whiskey to alleviate their need for more. That’s idiot compassion, that’s not helping anybody. We’d call that enabling so we are able to still be clever. It’s not one way or the other needed to almost injure ourselves or others to attempt to help. That’s almost an oxymoron. So there’s still a wisdom component in there.
There’s also the thought of fierce compassion that will be more just like the anti-enabling. Like with a view to help someone you would possibly must have a stern talk with them or an intervention or something. Sometimes the kindest thing you possibly can do is be very sharp
so it doesn’t all the time appear like, you already know, “it’s nice to be nice” it could have some more nuance than that, rather a lot more nuance than that. And in the identical way, emptiness is nuanced. It’s not simply that things aren’t there or something. Every thing dissolves into space and that’s the top of the story since it’s not the top of the story. Every thing that appears is itself radiant, awake space.
Even conceptual fabrication, the alternative of emptiness is empty and is just radiant awake space. It will probably seem to be once we’re letting go of thought or letting thought dissolve back into awakeness, that we’re one way or the other against thought or anti-thought, which we’re not because again the core of every thought is itself radiant awakeness. It’s, itself, totally enlightened. We just want to acknowledge that, fairly than only kind of being lost within the jumble of thought.
So what we did tonight is kind of a slow tonglen. Normally when you do the practice called giving and receiving tonglen you do it on the in-breath and the out-breath every time, but we just did a extremely slow version of it. There’s an extended time of giving compassion to the world and an extended time of taking within the sorrows. So we’d call this practice slow tonglen. It just gives you more time to form of get into each a part of it.
But again, it’s funny because people will are inclined to think that a practice like tonglen is one way or the other lower than, you already know, this super intense concentration practice or this super strong sharp emptiness practice. But that is completely not the case because again, bodhicitta has each the wisdom of emptiness and the facility of compassion. And getting that real sense of compassion going can drop us into awake awareness just as powerfully or much more powerfully than some form of sharp emptiness practice.
And if you ought to check how your compassion and emptiness are doing just notice the resistance to taking up the suffering. You actually start doing that practice if there’s you already know, “oh I need to cover it and conceal it, I don’t actually need it to the touch me,” and that form of thing. There’s your edge. To that extent, we are able to look more deeply into emptiness. Whereas, when it just breaks you open and also you don’t hold back, then we’re starting to essentially feel the depth of it, the facility of it.
Questions or comments or reports. Yes, please speak up.
Questioner 1: Okay, I even have two questions. I’ll just do one first. I’m sorry if it’s annoying. I’m just really curious what you may have to say, you said that everybody has a compassionate nature. I’m just wondering what about individuals who do a whole lot of bad things, how can we know additionally they have that?
Michael: How can we know that bad people have a compassionate nature? Even Putin has his children and takes care of them, his own children. There’s just a little tiny ember visible of that compassionate nature. People do wander off in delusion, wander off of their hatred, their greed, their fear, their disgust, their sadness. They wander off in that, but when we could dig out all that muck, underneath there may be a pure radiant bodhisattva of compassion.
That’s identical to when you imagine this million-year-old diamond statue of a buddha that’s lit up from inside, however it’s just at the underside of a thousand-mile-deep sewer, however it’s still perfect in there. And if we bring it up and rinse it off, it’s absolutely untouched. And in order that’s the thought. Every human being is fundamentally sane, fundamentally kind, fundamentally beautiful, fundamentally clever, but that may get really lost and covered up, especially after a lifetime of just piling on the delusion.
But at a certain point, you only start seeing that about people. You see their very own buddha nature even in the event that they don’t see it and that’s the weirdest thing is that sometimes you possibly can see it and so they don’t. Nevertheless it’s there. And so little by little through our own work, through our own meditation, through our own helping of others and all that, that helps to disclose that in others. Or helps them to see it about themselves. But it could be funny if you see it and so they don’t. It will probably be form of a funny moment–odd funny, not ha ha funny. Does that make sense? Good thanks on your query.
Questioner 2: Do you may have a story or an anecdote or a time by which you saw it and so they didn’t? I believe that will be a extremely interesting challenge to tug that out.
Michael: Yeah, it’s not a really satisfying story, but I remember once I first really began seeing that clearly, I’d just consult with someone’s buddha nature. Like okay, well clearly you understand this, that, and the opposite. And or act as if they have to understand it. And the funny thing is, and that is an odd solution to talk, but their buddha nature does understand it.
But through all of the layers of ignorance, it’s not reaching form of their normal mind and so there was a friend of mine that I worked with, and I’d see this, and he was very depressed. And we were super good friends and he was quite depressed and at first, I used to essentially consult with his buddha nature and thought that between me and talking to his buddha nature he could just form of see what was happening with him and work it out. So I worked really really hard for years to form of directly do this and I finally got it. It took an extended time for me to comprehend he doesn’t see that a part of himself. That’s why this isn’t working. He doesn’t see it in any respect and if I discuss it he thinks I’m insane. And so I learned that you would be able to’t force that on someone and you possibly can’t expect them to see that. Not a really satisfying story, but after some time, it becomes the story of day by day.
And that is one other place where you’ll notice the compassion arising. You’ll be able to see everyone’s buddha nature and so they can’t see it about themselves and it’s very sad. And so you ought to help. However, you possibly can’t force that helping on anybody so you only silently feel compassion. That might sound smug or paternal or something, however it’s more like having your heart broken repeatedly. Does it sound like fun to have your heart broken repeatedly? Most individuals think that seems like hell, but remember, the buddha nature is pure compassion and in order your heart is broken it drops you back into your personal deepest wisdom, your personal most fundamental okayness. So we don’t resist that broken heart. We let it break further and further because on the very furthest last brokenness, we see its absolutely pure awakening, pure vivid, clear wakefulness.
What else? Other questions or comments? You bought one other query? Sure.
Questioner 1: The opposite query is if you said imagine all of the beings being touched by this light of compassion and feeling joy.
Micheal: Yes.
Questioner 1: And on the retreat last weekend you said a harder version of that which is like imagine all of the beings which are suffering and tortured also receive this joy. I discovered that extremely hard, especially as compared to later you said imagine all of the suffering, I discovered that part very easy. Just yeah, there are such a lot of cases and the primary part is de facto hard. I imagine others feel the identical.
Michael: Yes, certain parts of it are really hard, and once I say really hard, I mean heartbreaking. Right, it’s so sad.
Questioner 1: I discovered the sad part more real but in every single place seeing joy, even for many who are suffering, I discovered it hard to assume that.
Michael: Keep trying. It’s not about whether you possibly can really make that occur on the planet. I mean, after all, we try to essentially make it occur on the planet, however it’s not about some logical rational mechanism, it’s about seeing it anyway, imagining it anyway. So it’s heart-based. We’re coming back to our heart, not seeing how we are able to possibly make that occur in all cases. When you’re going there you’re lost in concepts. And in order that’s we just let go of the concept and are available back to that pure wish that when you were within the room with that person being tortured you’d wish to help them feel higher. You’ll wish to do something and you wish them to feel that and you’d do anything you would. That’s what you’re beaming out to them.
Questioner 1: So is it alright to imagine specific things that I could do after which…
Michael: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Questioner 3: Yes, possibly I follow up on that, if you give these instructions which have involved making contact not directly with all beings, of giving something and receiving from all beings, I kind of feel like I can see two ways of approaching this and I’m wondering if one in every of them is kind of..
Michael: Which one makes you’re feeling probably the most compassion?
Questioner 3: I feel like I can begin to get there either way. I’m unsure. Yeah, I’m unsure I can quite get I believe I quite feel completely open… Do I start with a bird’s eye view, attempting to kind of have a look at every little thing without delay after which make that feel more concrete or kind of visualizing kind of faces one after the other starting…?
Michael: Most individuals find individual, starting individual is rather more powerful because you possibly can relate. Yeah, that’s often, you already know, 1,000,000 people is a statistic right, but one person you possibly can really relate to. So we would like to maintain it on the relational level and keep it in a way that we actually feel the compassion arising.
Yes
Questioner 4: I even have a report. Yeah, thanks a lot
Michael: Thanks.
Two hours ago I had a extremely traumatic thing and I just went right into a shock state. And two of my friends here held a extremely great space for me. I used to be like just a little child. I used to be like I’m bad, I’m bad, I’m gonna die, I need to die. And yeah, I felt such a, like a giant weight that I wanted to simply not face it.
Michael: Yes.
Questioner 4: Coming here I felt like I got a whole lot of relief, particularly with the spaciousness after which the tonglen practice was, wow, that actually broke my heart open, especially since I used to be feeling my very own suffering after which imagining the suffering of all of those different people and the way much worse they’ve got it. I actually felt with suffering day by day and it’s rather a lot easier for me to have compassion for people than to love judge, or to love attempt to survive or whatever it was. Also having the center of Guanyin, receiving that first, after which receiving that again, and being it. I felt prefer it helped bring me out of my collapsed state… into more of an okay, yeah, compassion I can receive and provides.
Michael: That’s right, that’s what that form of visualization does. It’s a resource, right? We realize we have now a whole lot of resource available. And so, even when we’re, you already know, all crushed from feeling all of the suffering of the world and even just our own suffering we tap into that resource, and guess what? It’s right there. Right, you imagine it and it is going to start immediately helping.
Questioner 4: And the interesting thing about it was that, what began helping me, was imagining the suffering of all the opposite people. That one way or the other took it out of that took me out of my very own spiral.
Michael: That’s right, that’s right absolutely.
Thanks. Good.
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