Rejoicing in the Four Brahmaviharas

0:00 Okay, so today's talk, and I think I'm now doing the half hour talk. And tell me if that's incorrect, but that's what I understand. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:13 Basically, it's on the Brahmavihāras. And I'd like, first of all, just to say thank you to the group for inviting me. Preparing this talk has been a great joy. understand. Report an error in the passage at 0:13 Highlight the passage at 0:13

0:29 Brought up lots of joy and some hard work associated with it as well, of course. But thank you for that. I'm going to talk a little bit about what the Brahmavihāras are and then give you some descriptive qualities, which are mainly quotes, and then talk about the practice of the Brahmavihāras and where to start practicing. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

0:57 And then... The near and the far enemies which are not taught very much in BSWA and then some just a very short closing remark. Report an error in the passage at 0:57 Highlight the passage at 0:57

1:10 So we can think of the Brahmaviharas as a powerful inner strength through being connected to the world but not overreactive to the world. Connected but not overreactive. Report an error in the passage at 1:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10

1:27 And they're sometimes called the divine abidings or the realm of the brahmas. They're sublime. They're excellent states of mind. And they are very lovely when one gets into them, no question. So there are four of them. And the first one is mettā, which is, as we know, is loving kindness meditation. The second is karuṇā, and that's... Report an error in the passage at 1:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27

1:57 It's called compassion in English, and it's what happens when mettā comes into contact with suffering. How do we deal with seeing or experiencing suffering? The third is muditā, which is basically sympathetic joy, joy at someone else's achievements or even your own. And the last is equanimity, which is a state of being connected, but not overreactive. Report an error in the passage at 1:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57

2:29 The first of the descriptive qualities I want to give is actually from Gil Fronsdal who's based in California but originally from Norway and he talks about the Brahmavihāras in the context of a puppy. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:45 In their simplest forms the Brahmavihāras are attitudes expressed in ordinary everyday life. Seeing a small puppy can evoke loving kindness, a feeling of appreciation, goodwill and friendliness. If the puppy gets hurt, we may feel compassion, a sense of kindness, caring and sincere wish for the puppy not to suffer. Report an error in the passage at 2:45 Highlight the passage at 2:45

3:10 If the puppy is frolicking around, we may feel appreciative joy, delighting in the happiness the dog feels. And when the puppy is overeager to run after a squirrel, And then deflated when it can't catch it. We can feel the brahma-vihara of equanimity. We can clearly love the dog with a stability that keeps us from becoming elated or distressed by its ups and downs. Report an error in the passage at 3:10 Highlight the passage at 3:10

3:40 So that's from general day-to-day life. And then we've got one from a Theravadan monk, Nyanaponika Thera. And he has a very compelling description, and it's called, the title of the piece is The Four Sublime States, and it's in Access to Insight. It's very much worth reading. These four attitudes are said to be excellent or sublime. Report an error in the passage at 3:40 Highlight the passage at 3:40

4:17 Because they are the right or ideal way of conduct between living beings. They provide, in fact, the answer to all situations arising from social contact. They are the great removers of tension, the great peacemakers in social conflict, the great healers of wounds suffered in the struggle of existence. Report an error in the passage at 4:17 Highlight the passage at 4:17

4:44 They level social barriers. Build harmonious communities. Awaken slumbering magnanimity long forgotten. Revive joy and hope long abandoned. And promote brotherhood against the forces of egotism. What's not to like about that? It really is terrific. All the problems of the world would be solved if we were all equanimous. Report an error in the passage at 4:44 Highlight the passage at 4:44

5:20 And these are basically, these are the abodes where the mind should be comfortable and peaceful. And we can be comfortable and peaceful, for example, when we're practicing mettā, loving kindness. We can be comfortable and peaceful when we're actually being compassionate. We don't need to feel uptight or whatever it may be. Report an error in the passage at 5:20 Highlight the passage at 5:20

5:44 We can be... We might be a bit more joyous if we're experiencing appreciative joy and we can certainly hopefully be comfortable and peaceful when we practice equanimity properly and are fully connected with the world but non-reactive. Report an error in the passage at 5:44 Highlight the passage at 5:44

6:07 In that way we can have the intention to love. That intention to love can be present at all times. And I think this intention to love is quite a powerful idea. All these brahmaviharas are really about love and in different situations. And very occasionally we see this in monastics. There are one or two monastics in the world who really just make people feel loved, even just when they look at them. Report an error in the passage at 6:07 Highlight the passage at 6:07

6:45 It's quite remarkable how they do this, but probably it's because of their practice of the Brahmavihāras and everything else. They're not at war with the world. So how do we practice all this? The way that I'm going to put this is, oh yes, one other point. These things are not easy in practice to develop. We have to take a lot of time to do that. Report an error in the passage at 6:45 Highlight the passage at 6:45

7:16 And it is worth practicing them all. For example, we might think we like mettā, so we won't bother with compassion. But there's a very nice thing that Nanaponica wrote, which is, he who is without compassion now will one day cry for it. The real warning. So how do we practice? Well, most of us, and indeed this is supported in the literature, focus on mettā to start with. Report an error in the passage at 7:16 Highlight the passage at 7:16

8:08 And in Majjhima Nikaya 7 and also in Digha Nikaya 13, and in other places like 91 and... And 97, I think, in Majjhima Nikaya and probably 62. It's classically given in all directions and it goes something like this. Here, a disciple dwells pervading one direction with his heart filled with loving kindness. Report an error in the passage at 8:08 Highlight the passage at 8:08

8:38 Likewise, the second, likewise, the third and the fourth direction. So above, below. All and around, he dwells pervading the entire world, everywhere, equally, with his heart filled with loving kindness, abundant, grown great, measureless, free from enmity and free from distress. And then the same for compassion, and the same for sympathetic joy, altruistic joy, gladness, same thing. Report an error in the passage at 8:38 Highlight the passage at 8:38

9:17 And then for equanimity, it's all four together. It's spread everywhere equally. Of course, there are other forms. For example, the five kinds of people, oneself, the benefactor, maybe a teacher or a parent or something like that, or someone who's just been very kind and supportive. I say just, I shouldn't say just, has been incredibly kind and supportive. There are dear friends, there are neutral people, and there is difficult person. Report an error in the passage at 9:17 Highlight the passage at 9:17

9:56 And clearly it's very hard to learn to deal with all of these equally. But with time and practice, actually, we can find that our meditation becomes equally intense for all four or five of these. and Report an error in the passage at 9:56 Highlight the passage at 9:56

10:16 I'll just give a little word to neutral people. It's quite interesting picking a neutral person and over the years actually giving the meta and one makes so many assumptions about where they're at and what they're like and then maybe 20 years later you see them again after a gap and they've got grey hair and they're limping and all this sort of thing. Report an error in the passage at 10:16 Highlight the passage at 10:16

10:41 But it's still the same process. The neutral person brings out quite a lot of things and is also a good teacher in terms of where our minds are at. Difficult people, of course, it's incredibly difficult to give mettā to someone we really have a real problem with. But over time, as the mind develops, this is less of an issue and less of an issue and less of an issue until one can give mettā or whatever it is Report an error in the passage at 10:41 Highlight the passage at 10:41

11:15 All groups of people equally. So equally is very important. And another thing that is mentioned in several places is these people should be alive. They shouldn't be dead. If these groups of people are not suitable for us, we can do it spatially. For example, we can do it in our home and then maybe our neighbors and down the street. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:44 And what about the town we're in, and then maybe the region, and then the country, and the continent, and then the whole world, and then the universe, and so on. Report an error in the passage at 11:44 Highlight the passage at 11:44

11:59 Or we could maybe try east, west, north, south, and then between them, northeast, northwest, and so on. The zenith right above, and the nadir below. Report an error in the passage at 11:59 Highlight the passage at 11:59

12:15 All these possibilities and there are others as well. The Buddha actually suggested that it's really worth reflecting on the compassion that a cow has for her calf. Report an error in the passage at 12:15 Highlight the passage at 12:15

12:34 And likewise, which of course were very common at the time of the Buddha in India, and they still are common, of course. But in contemporary... Report an error in the passage at 12:34 Highlight the passage at 12:34

12:51 powerful. And of course over the years the child grows and changes and then there are different issues that have to be focused on. For example teenagers and so on want independence. And is it compassionate to keep on taking decisions for them and so on? You know, it changes. Report an error in the passage at 12:51 Highlight the passage at 12:51

13:14 We can develop these states and eventually they do lead to the jhānas, all four, as Ajahn says. So how do we start if we're not into the Brahmapaharas? And someone today said, oh, I don't do much mettā. I just do it when I feel my samādhi is going a bit flat. And I find if I do mettā, this is what this person was saying, if I do mettā too much, it goes flat too. Report an error in the passage at 13:14 Highlight the passage at 13:14

13:42 Yeah, well... It needs probably more development in that case. I'm going to say that the classic rendition, above, below, all around, from a heart imbued with mettā, is a tall order. Where do you start? You're not going to, on your first meditation, have a mind, heart imbued with mettā. So we have to start somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 13:42 Highlight the passage at 13:42

14:14 And this is where I think the approach in the Vasudi Magga is especially valuable. And particularly in chapter nine, and I'm going to focus on this in two places. First of all, paragraphs one to eight, and then later 98 to 101. And it's very accessible and real worth reading. But basically, it starts off this chapter because the whole chapter is on the Brahma for Horrors, one of many chapters of the book. A beginner learning loving kindness should sever the impediments and learn the meditation subjects. Report an error in the passage at 14:14 Highlight the passage at 14:14

15:01 To start with, review the danger in hate and the advantage in patience. And I must say, personally, I... I had a lot of hate in the past. And I also had a great lot of difficulty with the idea of patience. We all want it now. But actually, patience is really very, very, very helpful with learning the Brahmavihāras because it is a question of developing them over time. Report an error in the passage at 15:01 Highlight the passage at 15:01

15:35 And it continues that... that We review the danger in hate and the advantage in patience. And we develop loving kindness for the purpose of secluding the mind from hate seen as a danger and introducing it to patience known as an advantage. Report an error in the passage at 15:35 Highlight the passage at 15:35

16:00 So that's what we're trying to do. The Buddha actually really recommended hate. Sorry, really recommended. He recommended Rahula, his son, to develop meditation on mettā and then he said ill will will be abandoned. That's Imagine Makaya 22. And mettā is the classic antidote to hate and aversion and ill will. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:31 So it's actually for most of us, not all of us, but for most of us, this is a very valuable tool to develop. And we can have a lot of joy from it. Eventually. And when we're practicing like this, what they say in the Visuddhimagga is that when you're a novice at the Brahmavihāras, if you practice on the benefactor or all the others as well, there can be pitfalls. Report an error in the passage at 16:31 Highlight the passage at 16:31

17:04 It's much better to start with yourself. And one of the formulations in there is, may I be happy, may I be free from suffering, etc. You could say, may I be free from hate, may I be free from ill will, may I be free from jealousy, whatever. It's wishes for our well-being. May I be free from suffering. May you all be free from the suffering of this talk as soon as possible. Report an error in the passage at 17:04 Highlight the passage at 17:04

17:36 So, continuing. Continuing. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

17:46 So we're recommended to focus on ourselves. And as an aside here, I'd like to say that one of the benefits of practicing friendliness to ourselves, mettā, is that it's easier to make friends with others if we can actually make friends with ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 17:46 Highlight the passage at 17:46

18:09 And I'm told that people have actually shown that people who are good at making friends with others are good at making friends with themselves and vice versa. I don't know how strong that is, but that's what I've been told. So we develop it over ourselves and then we develop it over the five classes of person mentioned above. Report an error in the passage at 18:09 Highlight the passage at 18:09

18:40 Actually, I'd just like to go back and say that one of the classes of people that I mentioned, I've just got to find my place, these notes are not as helpful as I'd hoped. Yes, dear friends, dear friends, it was one self benefactor, dear friends. This can refer to, for example, people in your household, your family, and so on. Report an error in the passage at 18:40 Highlight the passage at 18:40

19:09 And one of the disadvantages of, for example, giving mettā, practicing mettā initially on, say, for example, your partner, your wife or your husband, could be that it brings up lust. Report an error in the passage at 19:09 Highlight the passage at 19:09

19:25 And it actually talks about that danger in this part of the Vasudhimagga about why you should start it yourself and not other people. Report an error in the passage at 19:25 Highlight the passage at 19:25

19:36 And because it actually gives an example of that. So let's look at this business about things coming up that detract from the meditation of mettā or karuṇā or whatever else it may be, muditā or equanimity. I said lust might come up. Now, what this actually is, is the near enemy of mettā. And each of the Brahma-Viharas has a near and a far enemy. And the near enemy looks like real mettā, but actually it's not. Report an error in the passage at 19:36 Highlight the passage at 19:36

20:20 It's just romantic attachment or romantic love or lust. It's not really just wishing them well unconditionally. And another way of looking at near The near enemy, the thing that looks like mess if it isn't, is greed. You just want things to be a certain way. Report an error in the passage at 20:20 Highlight the passage at 20:20

20:53 The thought element is basically the opposite of whatever the quality is you're trying to do. So instead of loving friendliness, it's basically aversion to. Instead of, oh yes, let's... May you be happy. It's, I hope you're a bit unhappy, sort of thing. It's aversion. And the other ways of looking at this are resentment and fear. Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

21:26 Fear is quite interesting because, for example, if you have a partner or you have a child or something like that, or in a work situation, you may be fearful of losing control. And so it brings up aversion. Whereas what you really want is to bring up the mettā. And the other example, actually, is the monks in the forest that the Buddha talked about using mettā meditation for monks who are practicing in the forest, if they were fearful of the things in the forest. Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

22:03 And so they were taught by the Buddha to do mettā. So this is another example of mettā helping individuals. Not the wider world. So we've done the near and the far enemy of mettā very quickly. And now for compassion. And compassion is the quality of caring for someone who's suffering and hoping that they can be at ease with their suffering and hoping, ideally, that their suffering will finish. Report an error in the passage at 22:03 Highlight the passage at 22:03

22:36 And being aware of their suffering and feeling their suffering. These are all what you might call compassionate utterances. But there are ways that the near enemy is subtly different. Report an error in the passage at 22:36 Highlight the passage at 22:36

22:53 I'm sorry you've got a broken leg. And then in the thought process is, I'm glad I didn't break my leg. Or pity. It's not quite the right thing. It's not really being with the person who needs the compassion. A bit of it is I'll be compassionate to them, but I'm so glad this didn't happen to me. And one of the other difficulties with pity is that it belittles people. Report an error in the passage at 22:53 Highlight the passage at 22:53

23:25 It's treating them slightly, looking down on them very slightly. Whereas what we want with compassion is to treat them as an equal. I feel for your suffering. Report an error in the passage at 23:25 Highlight the passage at 23:25

23:42 Anybody got any ideas what the far enemy of compassion is? You're all on silent, but it's cruelty. Report an error in the passage at 23:42 Highlight the passage at 23:42

23:53 And suppose you have a cancer diagnosis, someone might say, well, that sounds pretty nasty. You know, I mean, not said in a compassionate way, but said in a sort of really slightly cruel way. You know, the operation sounds horrendous. You know, that's not being very compassionate. Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 23:53 Highlight the passage at 23:53

24:28 That's cruel. And we could get another one if one's depressed. Just saying, well, pull yourself together isn't really very helpful either. It's not practical to do that. And then sympathetic joy. What? Did someone say something? Report an error in the passage at 24:28 Highlight the passage at 24:28

24:49 Sympathetic joy, basically, this is where we are muditā, where we're really happy when something good has worked out for someone. So you can be genuinely very delighted that your child, if I can call it that, who's now a student at university, you're delighted that they Got such a good result in their exams. But that's a genuine delight. But you can see how maybe there could be if you could be saying, oh, I feel a little bit jealous. Report an error in the passage at 24:49 Highlight the passage at 24:49

25:39 This person got a first class. I only got a two. That's jealousy, which is the far enemy of. of uh Sympathetic joy. Or another thing, if someone says, I finished my finals, and they say, let's have a party. I'm sure you want to have a party. We'll all go off and have a party. That's considering what you want, not what the person who's just finished their finals may want. Report an error in the passage at 25:39 Highlight the passage at 25:39

26:11 They may want to go off surfing or something. Report an error in the passage at 26:11 Highlight the passage at 26:11

26:18 And two other descriptives. Words for these are gladness for the near enemy and aversion for boredom. And then lastly, we have equanimity. And this is quite interesting. Equanimity is where we're fully connected with what's going on, but not reactive to it, not overreactive to it. And the near enemy of this is indifference. Oh, it's just, it's, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 26:18 Highlight the passage at 26:18

26:51 You know, if someone's died, you might just say, well, it's just impermanent. You know, everything is impermanent. Forget about it. Or you might have, there are other ways in which you can be indifferent. Well, I know my child is actually doing something really rather naughty, bullying people at school or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 26:51 Highlight the passage at 26:51

27:19 It'll work out. I won't bother with it. You know, an indifference to it. Or the spiritual bypassing, where we basically may relate to a higher power. Well, the classic here is in the church, where there were very serious sexual offenders, as we now know. But the way it tended to be dealt with in the church was to move them to another parish or to perhaps... Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19

27:51 Get them to make their peace with a higher power. And this was not really recognizing the gravity, the illegality of what's happening, let alone the damage to the people who were abused. And so spiritual bypassing can be a big one, but also it can be spiritual bypassing of ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:16 We just don't really... uh we are a bit indifferent to our own things that we should be dealing with uh you know perhaps perhaps we really should do some exercise and not just be a couch potato for Now the alternative. habits or drinking too much or drugs or whatever it may be we smoking we just forget that we really should get on and deal with these instead of just being a bit indifferent to it Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:48 Now the alternative. And the far enemies of equanimity are hate and craving. And if the weather is very bad, you know, there's a, oh, I do hate this weather. You may look perfectly tranquil externally, but internally, I hate it. You can have quite a lot of this, actually. You just don't like it. Report an error in the passage at 28:48 Highlight the passage at 28:48

29:18 And there's also fierce compassion when you feel something has to be said and it's not really being unreactive or appropriately reactive. It's going a bit beyond that and saying you really should do these things and sort this out. The other terms that are sometimes used are unknowing. We just don't want to know what's happening. Report an error in the passage at 29:18 Highlight the passage at 29:18

29:49 Is the near enemy and the far enemy can be greed perhaps or resentment. Now we can practice these in our life, our day to day life. I've only got a moment left but I'm really just at the end. I'm definitely saying do not do this at work, at home. Do not try this yourselves. I'm definitely saying this. Report an error in the passage at 29:49 Highlight the passage at 29:49

30:19 But when preparing this talk, I actually was driving, I did it on Sunday and Monday, and I was driving back from Perth on Monday lunchtime and knew I had a meeting in Jana Grove and actually there was no way with the traffic I was going to be there on time. Report an error in the passage at 30:19 Highlight the passage at 30:19

30:36 And I could watch myself saying, I'm fully... engaged with what's happening there's a traffic jam we're all going we're only going at 40 kilometers an hour that I'm not being overreactive to this I'm not sort of rushing up and down oh I wish they'd move on why does this person go so slowly and all that and then one can be compassionate as a driver one can basically make space if you if move into the slow lane if they really want to pass or There's the alternative of being cruel and staying in the fast lane if you know they want to pass, but they really are being a bit pushy. And so on and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

31:22 And one can be kind to oneself. I've done everything reasonable. I've rung ahead and told them this is likely to be a late start and that sort of thing. So one can practice these in lay life, in everyday situations. And I actually did this for the conversation. Someone was a bit angry about something today. We talked about it and I was just doing it from a Brahma-Vihara perspective and it's quite interesting to try that. Report an error in the passage at 31:22 Highlight the passage at 31:22

31:52 I think probably it helps develop equanimity as someone who's a bit reactive. Reminding oneself just to be aware and not overreactive is really useful actually. Report an error in the passage at 31:52 Highlight the passage at 31:52

32:06 So my closing remarks are that these are really helpful in practice and... We can see that the near and far enemies are actually good ways to criticize constructively our attempts at the Brahmaviharas and see where we can improve them, make them purer. Purity is what matters. And hopefully with time we can see that these really are divine abidings. Report an error in the passage at 32:06 Highlight the passage at 32:06

32:38 And that's all to say. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 32:38 Highlight the passage at 32:38

32:51 I could say one other thing, but my notes are actually in a PDF, and if anybody wants it, it probably can be arranged. They're for me, they're not for other people, but you can have them. They've got the references on there. Okay. Over to Gloria. Shall we move on to the meditation? Yes, probably. Yeah. Will you guide it, or you prefer we just sit? You can... Report an error in the passage at 32:51 Highlight the passage at 32:51

33:22 It's up to you. I can guide the first few minutes. Okay. And then we can sit for the best part of half an hour and then have a little bit of closing stuff from me if you like. Sure. That would be great. Thank you. Okay. Right. Well, just get yourself, first of all, into a comfortable position and relax Report an error in the passage at 33:22 Highlight the passage at 33:22

33:56 as much as possible. And look for any areas where you find that you've got tension. And it may be helpful to start at your feet. Some people start at their head and work down, but I'm going to suggest starting with one's feet and working up. And one can work with the toes initially, if one can, and maybe wiggle the toes, relax a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 33:56 Highlight the passage at 33:56

34:32 And move around then the whole foot around the heel and flex the ankle up and down a little bit. And perhaps notice any tension in the sole of the foot. Try and let it go. Tighten it up and let it go. Report an error in the passage at 34:32 Highlight the passage at 34:32

34:54 And then we can move on to the calves. Tighten them and let them go. They should be nice and peaceful calves. and hopefully pain-free and if they're not quite pain-free give them a bit of kindness thank you limbs for doing calves for doing all this all this work carrying me around we'll be walking together and then we've got the knees and the thighs and Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:31 then we have the hips and very often the hips Need they get a bit sore and we can relax. We can tighten up and relax the hips and Report an error in the passage at 35:31 Highlight the passage at 35:31

35:52 generally loosen that area and make it feel a little bit more relaxed. However, that works best for us. And we can tighten up our stomach and let it go around the solar plexus. Report an error in the passage at 35:52 Highlight the passage at 35:52

36:15 Tighten it up and let it go. Relax with that. Report an error in the passage at 36:15 Highlight the passage at 36:15

36:24 And we've got lungs, the upper chest. We can breathe in and breathe out again. Feel the tension leave the body. And the shoulders. The shoulders may have a little bit of tension in them. We can tighten them up and let them go. And then the arms and the hands. And then the neck, which may be a bit tight. Report an error in the passage at 36:24 Highlight the passage at 36:24

36:58 Move it around a bit. And then really there is the face, our head. Report an error in the passage at 36:58 Highlight the passage at 36:58

37:12 Often we can feel a bit of tension in our cheeks, for example, on our forehead or in our nose. But at this point, let's moisten the lips. Let the lips be relaxed. Let the tongue be relaxed. Move it around a bit and relax it a bit. And then the jaw. The jaw can be moved around a bit so that the lips and the tongue and the jaw are all a little bit relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 37:12 Highlight the passage at 37:12

37:45 And this should help us calm down a little bit. And to aid our calming down a bit more, we can take a deep breath in and then let it out very slowly. Report an error in the passage at 37:45 Highlight the passage at 37:45

38:04 Deep breath in through the nostrils and Report an error in the passage at 38:04 Highlight the passage at 38:04

38:12 let it out through the mouth. Report an error in the passage at 38:12 Highlight the passage at 38:12

38:23 We can repeat that two or three times. Report an error in the passage at 38:23 Highlight the passage at 38:23

38:54 And now we should be much more relaxed in mind and in body. And I'll leave you for a bit, about 26 or 27 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 38:54 Highlight the passage at 38:54

· · · silence, 9 minutes

48:28 If you find your attention is wandering, bring it back to the object. Gently bring it back to the object. Report an error in the passage at 48:28 Highlight the passage at 48:28

· · · silence, 8 minutes

56:55 We're only a short time from the end of the meditation. So you may like to use this. Last few moments to reflect on the meditation you've just had. What worked? What went well? Why did it go well? And what didn't work so well? What do you think was wrong there? Report an error in the passage at 56:55 Highlight the passage at 56:55

57:23 What can you learn from this? Report an error in the passage at 57:23 Highlight the passage at 57:23

57:29 How did you feel before the meditation? And how do you feel now we're coming towards the end? Report an error in the passage at 57:29 Highlight the passage at 57:29

· · · silence, 1 minute

58:56 Okay. And now, when you're ready, it's time to let go and slowly open your eyes and come back to the meditation. Come back out of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 58:56 Highlight the passage at 58:56