Guided Meditation by Sharon Salzberg (Metta Meditation)
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 – Intro
9:37 – Guided Meditation
Foreign [Music] [Laughter] So today we're very very blessed to have Sharon lead us in a practice And then we'll have some time for Q a so If you have questions that are been About practice or about life or about Integrating practice in Life or anything That feels relevant Sharon will spend The second half uh just answering Whatever questions show up for you it's Really cool to see I'm just looking at All these places uh In the chat of uh around the world so You are so welcome from France and Devon UK and uh Espana And Austria and we're back Maine Hawaii India wonderful to have Somebody from India here Um so we come from all the different Places and we have maybe different Accents skin colors sizes ages Um and yet the practice of waking up and Presence and mindfulness is all still The same practice Um so thank you again for joining us Today and um really just appreciate your Presence you do not have to be on video But if you want to be on video sometimes It's nice to be able to kind of see uh People around you can also go to either Speaker view which you'll you'll see Just sharing in a moment or you can also
Go to gallery view and you can see uh The other humans here with us on the Call but just a deep bow to everybody For taking the time that they they say The hardest part about meditation is Showing up I don't know if that's Completely true but thank you for Showing up you did maybe maybe you've Done the hardest part today we'll see Um so again a deep bow and blessing to All of you and I'm going to pass it over To Sharon Sharon welcome Thank you so much and I agree it's so Delightful to read that chat and see all These different places and different Time zones and I applaud the people for Whom this is quite early it's it's an S Extra special effort Uh thank you but really this is this is Such a deeply International Gathering It's quite wonderful So we are going to practice together Which is the best thing it's uh it's Really Such a gift I found you know in these Last times and for all time to to have a Gathering to be able to practice Um to move from the more maybe Conceptual Appreciation of a concept To something that is breathing life into It it's making it real Uh which is the whole point and so it's More difficult it's more complicated
It's more challenging but it's what Actually counts so Um it's been interesting for me you know I have been teaching meditation since 1974. Uh in this country and around the world And and Um We you know obviously have noticed a Vast movement and change in people's Interest and even the very use of the Language so in 1974 Five six when I was first back from India into the states if I Was it a party or some social situation And somebody said to me what do you do I'd say I teach mindfulness or I teach Meditation and you kind of go oh like And saddle away a little bit like that Was just a little too weird Occasionally somebody would say to me Did you meet the Beatles over there and I think one of those sadly you know they They went when I was in high school and Different because of practice anyway but Um And so to watch what's happened is Really quite extraordinary and one you Can't I mean you can't not hear the word Mindfulness whatever you're doing Watching the news or anything it's just It's everywhere and Uh so I think it takes just a it's worth A little bit of time to think what do we
Mean because it means many many Different things that word mindfulness And it also Um it's an interesting time because I've Noticed like there's almost like a A counter wave you know people are Saying just against the word let alone Against the practice but Um You know people are saying well the word Mindfulness sounds so cold it sounds so Clinical this obviously sounds heady you Know in the way we use English And the experience is not that it's not Abstract it's not removed it's very Embodied it's very full-on it involves Every aspect of our being And so I've watched with some recent Amusement As people Were all trying to say it in a way that Includes that instead of excluding that And you know people are saying how about Warm mindfulness or how about Kindfulness or how about whatever uh Loving awareness is a very popular I'm Sure you're going to hear it somewhere In this series and Um and all of that is great but really The word is just mindfulness and it Implies all that so as we practice here Together I'm gonna put a special Emphasis On what is I think really the secret
Ingredient To being able to practice mindfulness Which is a kind of kindfulness Or loving awareness and ability to not Judge ourselves so harshly Uh when our attention wanders which it Will When A difficulty motion arises which it Likely will as well Um you know It's easy to think of meditation as just Placid and getting more peaceful and so Sweet and lovely and Blissful and all of That and sometimes it is and sometimes It's pretty rough Uh because anything might arise the Secret to mindfulness is that it's a Relational quality It's not about what's happening it's About how we're relating to what's Happening So you could tell like uh Wise Master you know of meditation I Felt sleeping my knee hurt I was angry I Was disgruntled And that wouldn't indicate bad Meditation that just integrates Challenging meditation But how were you with how were you with The sleepiness How present how balanced how clear how Kind Could you be with that sleepiness with
The anger with the disgruntlement I love It and that's the point how are we with All of these different things which Means there's no experience ultimately That's left out we don't start by Crowding in every experience it might be A a graduated sequence But ultimately Were able to pay attention to anything The joys and the Sorrows or Thoughts emotions body whatever may come Up Very commonly we do use something like The feeling of the breath As an anchor that's like the Foundational exercise and we keep Returning to it To kind of steady our attention and get That feeling of what it's like to not Interfere just to be with And then we take that out again to Various Experiences as they become predominant And that's how I'm going to guide the Sitting but the kindness is is a really Key Aspect even if it's never clearly Articulated even if you never hear the Word compassion your self-compassion It's there because there's no other way To actually do the practice Without it because just think of this Scenario Those of you who are experienced Meditators or were here last session
LED you know that You may sit down with the intention to Have your attention On the feeling of the breath And it may not be seven thousand breaths Before your mind wanders it may be one It may be two maybe half a breath and Then you're gone So how do you speak to yourself when you Come back when you realize that Are you harsh are you punitive So you denigrate yourself or can you Practice letting go And starting over is not that easy We can and that's the point we have to We have to learn that skill and put it Into practice But it's going to be very tempting When you realize your attention is Wandered to freak out you know like I Can't believe it I'm thinking no one Else is thinking no one else in this Entire Zoom is thinking I'm the only one Who's thinking I always think why do I Think I'm so stupid I'm so bad they're Not thinking they're sitting here in Bliss they're sitting here bathing Brilliant white light they're sitting Here nearly enlightened maybe they are Enlightened but I'm not you know I'm not Enlightened I'm just stupid I'm thinking They're not thinking maybe they are Thinking but they're thinking beautiful Thoughts I'm thinking really stupid
Right we can go on and on and on and on And that's what's so tempting because That's just our conditioning that's Habit But if we can realize that earlier on as It's starting not hopefully you know so Far into it as time goes on We see it we remember you know what I Can start over I can let go There's a lot of kindness in there Toward ourselves we let go and we start Over So let's practice together You can sit comfortably You can experiment with closing your Eyes it's up to you Some people may prefer to lie down That's fine You may prefer to have your eyes open That's fine too And we can start just by listening to Sound I'm in Massachusetts right now it's Raining I don't know if I'm bringing you The sound of the rain or not or if it's Not getting through Than the sound of my voice or other Sounds It's a way of relaxing deep inside Allowing our experience to come and go Of course we like certain sounds and we Don't like others But we don't have to chase after them to Hold on or push away just let them come
Let them go And let the sounds just wash through Bring your attention to the feeling of Your body sitting whatever Sensations You discover See if you can feel the Earth supporting You See if you can feel space touching you Usually we think about touching space we Think about Picking up a finger and poking it in the Air But space is already touching us it's Always touching us we just have to move Into receptive mode Bring your attention to your hands And see if you can move from The more conceptual level like go Fingers To the world of direct sensation Picking up warmth coolness Pressure tingling whatever it might be You don't have to name these things but Feel them And on that same level of feeling Sensation Bring your attention to the feeling of Your breath just the normal natural Breath Wherever you feel it most distinctly That might be the nostrils it might be The chest it might be the abdomen Wherever it's strongest for you You'd find that place bring your
Attention there And just rest And for whatever reason physical Emotional the breath doesn't work for You And that happens it's fine Simply another sensation in your body That you can pick up Pretty easily Your hands touching something like that Well guide this as though it were the Breath It's just one breath you don't have to Be concerned about what's already gone By You don't have to lean forward for even The very next breath just this one If you like you can use a quiet mental Notation like in out Or Rising falling But very quiet So your attention is really going to Feeling the breath one breath at a time You're with the breath of the nostrils It may be tingling vibration Warmth coolness if at the chest or the Abdomen It may be movement pressure stretching Release You don't have to name all these Sensations but feel them This is where we rest And images or sounds or Sensations Or emotions should arise but they're not
Very strong You can stay connected to the feeling of The breath Just let them flow on by your breathing It's just one breath They can come and go You don't have to fight anything you Don't have to follow anything You're breathing But if something arises and it is quite Strong it pulls you It captures your attention recognize it This is what's happening right now Is Joy with sorrow Just thinking his planning As much as possible recognize it without Judgment This is the truth of the present moment And see if you can let go Bring your attention back to the feeling Of the breath And for all those perhaps many times you Are just gone Lost in thought spun out in a fantasy or You fall asleep truly don't worry about It If there ever was a place for loving Awareness it's then Realize You've Been Gone Forgive yourself Realize this is just the nature of Conditioning We let go we start over Realize you've been distracted
See if you can let go gently And just bring your attention back To the feeling of the breath it's not a Sign of failure It's not a sign that anything's gone Wrong that is the actual practice Come on Foreign Foreign Foreign No matter how many times We may have to let go and begin again It's totally fine That's why we call The Meditation Practice a kind of resilience training To be able to let go With a full heart to start over again And again Is probably the greatest life skill we Can bring From our meditation practice into our Everyday When you feel ready you can open your Eyes or lift your gaze And we'll end the meditation session So thank you thank you Sharon
