- Foundations of Meditation Class I
- Welcome and class orientation: Let’s treat this as a small community for the next 7 weeks. In the teachings of meditation, spiritual friendship is of the utmost value. We call the holy community of practitioners, this is called Sangha.
- How each class will go: check in/Q&A, teachings, practice and process; guided Lovingkindness meditation
- Check in: What is your name and what would you wish for this gathering?
- What are we here to do? Applying meditation to help resolve difficulties leaving you with more happiness.
- The type of teaching that you will be learning was perfected by a person named Gautama. After he perfected these teachings, he was referred to “the Buddha” He would prefer practitioners to refer to him as the Tatagatha, “the master of suchness.” We may as well say “the master of being with experience as it is” or “master of mindfulness” Gautama gave up all of his comforts and spent his life in pursuit of and teaching for a way for beings to come out of suffering and live in love and peace.
- The Buddha is a person who has transcended suffering and lives in qualities of the heart like compassion. All of us have some Buddha nature.
- The Buddha teachings were radical. In those days, your development in life and afterlife depended on your social position. The Buddha would tell us that each person is in charge of their own destiny.
- And he would further say that we need the courage and strength to face the difficulties that come up in your life and practice.
- This style of meditation we are practicing keeping our attention on one object. We are developing stable and stroon attention so we can go deeper into this mind. For the next two weeks we will bring attention to the body, in particular the breath.
- So this style of meditation is stable attention with mindfulness.
- And what is mindfulness? Whenever the mind is resting in mindfulness, we are in a healthy mental state. Jon Kabat-Zinn: “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”
- This very moment. Present moment. Very precious.
- Attention is non judgemental and accepting of what is happening right now. The attention given is not affected by suffering.
- Mindfulness can be like a mirror. We stand in front of a mirror, and the mirror only reflects back the bare image. The image does not say fat or ugly or handsome or hot. The mirror is not judging. This sense of nonjudging and acceptance means that the attention given is pure.
- Guided reflection on presence.
- The awareness given is like being on a street corner, getting ready to cross the street. Attention to information that the street is safe to cross. No need to judge the pedestrian signal box. Or the traffic. Awareness of the signal changing and someone that may run the light.
- Story of Kate.
- The core of the teachings: Four Noble Truths. there is suffering, there is a cause to suffering, there is a cessation to suffering, the path to the end of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. We wish to understand the nature of suffering and how to transcend.
- Suffering is dissatisfaction with experience. This is common to all of us.
- We also share kindness, generosity and a drive to do what is right.
- The more we identify and let go of suffering we develop understanding, peace and love.
- These teachings, these laws of nature, and the ability of a person to absorb and use these laws is called the Dharma.
- Everything that you encounter in your meditation is an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding and develop powerful qualities of the mind.
- We bring our personality to this practice. The way in which you relate to your experience is a clue to how your personality affects how you witness experience.
- Practice period: It can be very facilitative that when you practice you have a sense of kindness and receptivity.
- About the guided meditation: posture, eyes, attitude of kindness and relaxation, intention, 3 long breaths, allowing being receptive to the breath. Practice with a light attention on the abdomen and awareness on the lower torso. The mind wanders, notice where you wandered and gently bring yourself back. It is the nature of the untrained mind to wander. We are training ourselves in stable attention and the cultivation of mindfulness.
- When you get home, how to meditate: find a quiet, secluded space, a space worthy of a devotional practice. Keep the space clean and have family members be respectful of this pace. Assignments: Practice mediation, below are some mindfulness of breathing meditations:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awUKw-XCcRI , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J62F0Y6PKes , https://soundcloud.com/user-164199173/guided-mindfulness-of-breathing
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Read p1-28, 159-171 “Breath by Breath” by Larry Rosenbergif so motivated: What is MindfulnessMay all being be safe, May all beings be happy, May all beings be healthy, May all beings be content,May all beings love themselves no matter what happens!
LIMG Community Breakfast