Friday Night Guided Meditation

0:00 And it's nice to see you all. I better stop speaking too much and instead do some meditation. So quiet right now. Please make sure you're in a comfortable position. I'd like to see that so many people are not just using one cushion but two or three cushions. We have plenty of cushions here as long as it makes you comfortable. And for those of you We still find it difficult to sit comfortably. We have these two chairs over here. I remember that armchair over there some time ago. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:41 It's been here quite a while. We've got a new chair here now. A new nice comfy chair. So if anybody wants to sit in that, well done. Report an error in the passage at 0:41 Highlight the passage at 0:41

0:55 Yes, we've got a volunteer. A comfy chair, go for it. Report an error in the passage at 0:55 Highlight the passage at 0:55

1:02 Because the most important thing with meditation is to learn how to relax to the max and sometimes in a comfy chair you can do that a little bit more efficiently. Go on, whichever one you wish for. Excellent. The other one is still vacant. Report an error in the passage at 1:02 Highlight the passage at 1:02

1:31 Anyway, see what happens. We learn how to sit comfortably and for me a chair like that It's not comfortable because for so many years I've learned how to sit cross-legged and it makes it much easier for me to meditate when I'm sitting on the ground. And even these days, sometimes even not using a cushion under my butt, my body is used to this after 51 years as a monk now. Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

2:08 So that means that my body's got used to this. So I Report an error in the passage at 2:08 Highlight the passage at 2:08

2:17 close my eyes and bring all my attention to Report an error in the passage at 2:17 Highlight the passage at 2:17

2:27 my body. I take it away from all other concerns. I don't think about the future or the past. I really mean that. And Report an error in the passage at 2:27 Highlight the passage at 2:27

2:49 as I bring it to attention on my own body, I learn how to relax everything to the max. I relax my feet. Report an error in the passage at 2:49 Highlight the passage at 2:49

3:06 When I do longer meditation sits I can observe my toes and relax those but on a short meditation like half an hour I just feel all of those toes and Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:28 balls of the feet, heels, uppers and also my ankles all together. This allows me to build up mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 3:28 Highlight the passage at 3:28

3:50 But as I'm sure you have heard, mindfulness is not sufficient. You need kindness as well. The kindfulness. When Report an error in the passage at 3:50 Highlight the passage at 3:50

4:08 I give kindfulness to my feet, I honestly feel like they're just soaking in a hot tub, relaxing to the max. You find you can imagine your feet relaxing and then all the aches. The tightness can vanish and Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

4:48 then I relax my legs, calves of my legs, the thighs of my legs and also one part of those legs which people often find discomforting, your knees. Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:12 Sometimes we work our legs too hard. Sometimes the knees get sore or even in pain. That's also a case that I haven't put enough mindfulness on them, enough kindness, and they get tense. I Report an error in the passage at 5:12 Highlight the passage at 5:12

5:40 always remember my mother's coming running to me when I'd fallen over and hurt my knees. What she called kissing them better. Just add her love. To her child who was crying and the pain would disappear every time. That was where I learned how kindness relaxes feelings of pain and suffering. So Report an error in the passage at 5:40 Highlight the passage at 5:40

6:32 I give that kindness to all my legs and just above the ankles, the calves and the knees and the thighs. I can feel them right now and give them kindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 6:32 Highlight the passage at 6:32

6:55 And imagine them all like they're relaxing on the softest of cushions and Report an error in the passage at 6:55 Highlight the passage at 6:55

7:25 then being aware of the feeling in my buttocks, the Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

7:36 weight of my body pressing against the ground. All Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

7:46 I do to relieve that feeling, that sensation, is to make sure that my legs and my buttocks are well balanced. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:03 I don't try and get rid of feelings. I am kind to them. And when I'm kind to the feelings in my buttocks and they feel balanced, I know they're going to disappear after a short while. They always do. And Report an error in the passage at 8:03 Highlight the passage at 8:03

8:33 I go to the feelings above my buttocks, my waist. And I've learned over so many years, for me, the best posture It's to have a more straight back with my waist just pulled in. It's Report an error in the passage at 8:33 Highlight the passage at 8:33

8:59 hard to explain but I get to know how my body feels and this posture becomes the very best for me and Report an error in the passage at 8:59 Highlight the passage at 8:59

9:15 above the waist. First of all I go up my back. I did injure my back many years ago so I notice how the back can Be painful and how if you give it the right posture you can feel strong and you can maintain that posture for hours sometimes. Now Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:48 go back to the waist again. Now go up my posture from the inside up along the digestive tract as Report an error in the passage at 9:48 Highlight the passage at 9:48

10:05 I feel the Any tightness or stress or injury, I can learn how to relax the whole of my digestive system. I often notice there are some aches and pains which are like contractions. I imagine those contractions expanding, like things getting bigger so nothing gets blocked. It's like widening the road. Report an error in the passage at 10:05 Highlight the passage at 10:05

10:54 And if I come across any area... Which has an ache or a pain. It's like that kissing it better again. Giving kindness. As I give kindness, the Report an error in the passage at 10:54 Highlight the passage at 10:54

11:18 feelings relax. I notice much of pain actually comes from fear. And the kindness just overcomes any fear. I Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:42 go all the way from the colon to the intestine. Intestine to the stomach and Report an error in the passage at 11:42 Highlight the passage at 11:42

11:54 any other little things which are there on the way. Report an error in the passage at 11:54 Highlight the passage at 11:54

12:01 Next Tuesday, I'm giving a talk at Solaris, the cancer center. Report an error in the passage at 12:01 Highlight the passage at 12:01

12:14 It's how I teach people to notice any changes in your body, how you feel any changes, extra tightness, ache, pain, because that can be the start. start of a cancer. Report an error in the passage at 12:14 Highlight the passage at 12:14

12:34 and learning how to feel the body and relax it. I do all Report an error in the passage at 12:34 Highlight the passage at 12:34

12:50 of this until I get up to my stomach. Okay, a monk's stomach is empty in the evening, but nevertheless, I always check my stomach to make sure there's no unusual tightness or ache or pain. Report an error in the passage at 12:50 Highlight the passage at 12:50

13:11 And relax everything in there. I Report an error in the passage at 13:11 Highlight the passage at 13:11

13:20 always find it a fun thing to do, believe it or not. Because when I check and relax, the stomach gets even more relaxed and pleasant. And Report an error in the passage at 13:20 Highlight the passage at 13:20

13:37 I go up and do the same to my lungs, making sure they're relaxed. If Report an error in the passage at 13:37 Highlight the passage at 13:37

13:47 I was a woman, I'd always check my breasts, any other part of you which can be cancer prone. Report an error in the passage at 13:47 Highlight the passage at 13:47

14:00 To relax everything, to overcome fear so you can see what's actually going on in your body, how it works, and how to get it very, very, very healthy. Report an error in the passage at 14:00 Highlight the passage at 14:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

14:48 And then keep going up till you get to your shoulders and Report an error in the passage at 14:48 Highlight the passage at 14:48

14:57 learning how to relax those shoulders. Report an error in the passage at 14:57 Highlight the passage at 14:57

15:04 One way of doing this is going the opposite direction for a minute, scrunching up the shoulders. I'm doing that now, scrunching them up as tight as I can possibly make them and then letting go. Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:27 Take off all the force. It's like I was pulling those muscles of the shoulders apart and now I let the pressure off so those shoulders are not held in any position by me. I let go of things and the shoulders relax. Report an error in the passage at 15:27 Highlight the passage at 15:27

15:54 And they feel good. Report an error in the passage at 15:54 Highlight the passage at 15:54

16:00 Relaxation usually brings the feeling of pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:07 And as you go from the shoulders down to the elbows, and I allow things to get lower, get wider, so everything gets loose and free. Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:27 And whether it's blood or lymph or any of the other things of the body. They can flow through easily and go to the forearms, the wrists, the hands and the fingers. The very end of the arms, the fingers. It's a nice little exercise of how mindfulness works. Report an error in the passage at 16:27 Highlight the passage at 16:27

16:56 I ask my fingers as if they were any one of you. I ask them, how are you? And straight away, I'm mindful of my fingers and their position and having asked how are they, anything I can do to relax you even more. And the answer comes that my position of my fingers is not the best. So I now do the usual way of meditating. Report an error in the passage at 16:56 Highlight the passage at 16:56

17:33 Put my right hand over my left hand with thumbs slightly touching my finger. I can't, I can't. Even after all these years it's still sometimes difficult to understand. When I ask my body what it needs, what it wants, I'm not such a control freak. I ask my fingers how they are and what they need. They always give a really good answer. My fingers feel so much more at ease and at peace. Report an error in the passage at 17:33 Highlight the passage at 17:33

18:12 That's how I treat my whole body. So I go back up to my shoulders and my neck. Report an error in the passage at 18:12 Highlight the passage at 18:12

18:23 Neck, can your position be improved? And they say, yes, make it a bit leaning backwards slightly, not Report an error in the passage at 18:23 Highlight the passage at 18:23

18:38 too far to the left or the right. And Report an error in the passage at 18:38 Highlight the passage at 18:38

18:44 my neck feels at ease. When Report an error in the passage at 18:44 Highlight the passage at 18:44

18:50 I go to my head, it's very hard to feel sensations in most part of the head. So I imagine the sensations around my eyes, my nose. Report an error in the passage at 18:50 Highlight the passage at 18:50

19:06 and my mouth and I relax all of those sensations still keeping my eyes closed but never screwed down tight and Report an error in the passage at 19:06 Highlight the passage at 19:06

19:23 my nose at ease and my mouth again not screwed down tightly but at peace my whole face becomes full of peace very gentle and very pleasant and Report an error in the passage at 19:23 Highlight the passage at 19:23

19:58 then I imagine joining all of these parts together, my legs, my butt, my back, my inners, lungs and heart and stomach, arms and neck and head, just Report an error in the passage at 19:58 Highlight the passage at 19:58

20:23 to balance them all so everything is so at peace. And I say that because every time when I do a guided Body meditation like this, my body feels so relaxed. And Report an error in the passage at 20:23 Highlight the passage at 20:23

20:50 if there's some part I missed or some part needs more attention, I'm always willing to give it. Report an error in the passage at 20:50 Highlight the passage at 20:50

21:04 And I pause, I wait for a few moments, because what I experience next is a beautiful pleasure of relaxation. Very peaceful, not exciting, but very beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 21:04 Highlight the passage at 21:04

21:29 My body doesn't need anything. When Report an error in the passage at 21:29 Highlight the passage at 21:29

21:48 I do feel that pleasure of relaxation, true relaxation, then the body gets even more relaxed. I Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

22:04 know I cannot do this if I've got too much thinking going on in my head. Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:15 In order to quieten the mind and relax the mind, I find the best segue, transition from the body to the mind. It's to feel the meaning of the word peace. What Report an error in the passage at 22:15 Highlight the passage at 22:15

22:38 does peace mean for you? It Report an error in the passage at 22:38 Highlight the passage at 22:38

22:49 will always include kindness. It Report an error in the passage at 22:49 Highlight the passage at 22:49

22:56 will also include letting go of fault finding. It's Report an error in the passage at 22:56 Highlight the passage at 22:56

23:16 amazing how when you don't find fault with anything, how the mind gets so peaceful. And Report an error in the passage at 23:16 Highlight the passage at 23:16

23:33 that makes it easier. To come into this present moment of now, just being here right now. Past, I discard it. I let it vanish. The mind is very happy spending a few minutes not being consumed by the pleasures or the mistakes of the past. No Report an error in the passage at 23:33 Highlight the passage at 23:33

24:21 let go of fear or any plans for the future. Report an error in the passage at 24:21 Highlight the passage at 24:21

24:31 And I often say, because it's helpful, Now is where my future is being made. I really care about the future. I will care about the present as Report an error in the passage at 24:31 Highlight the passage at 24:31

25:07 I get into the present moment. I've got nothing to think about. Silence comes up naturally and Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:25 I now will be quiet for five minutes. How Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

· · · silence, 4 minutes

29:30 do you feel right now? What Report an error in the passage at 29:30 Highlight the passage at 29:30

29:39 does peace feel like? No need to think about it. Just get to know it. Peace, Report an error in the passage at 29:39 Highlight the passage at 29:39

29:53 silence. How Report an error in the passage at 29:53 Highlight the passage at 29:53

30:01 much freedom is there when you don't think? We're Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

· · · silence, 1 minute

30:43 coming close to the end of the meditation. I haven't finished yet. Please check how you feel emotionally and physically. How Report an error in the passage at 30:43 Highlight the passage at 30:43

31:04 relaxed are you mentally and physically? I'm Report an error in the passage at 31:04 Highlight the passage at 31:04

31:27 now going to ring the gong. Please listen to every sound from the gong and let it gently take you out from your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 31:27 Highlight the passage at 31:27

· · · silence, 1 minute

32:25 Excellent. So Report an error in the passage at 32:25 Highlight the passage at 32:25

· · · silence, 1 minute

32:59 if you just relax for a minute or two and then I'll start this evening's talk. Report an error in the passage at 32:59 Highlight the passage at 32:59