Friday Night Guided Meditation

0:00 So, welcome everybody, and now is the time for having a nice, peaceful, quiet time. Sometimes say that meditation is like brainwashing, but not in a bad way. It washes the brain of all those memories which are not all that powerful, not all that peaceful, and makes a nice, clean, empty, beautiful, restful mind. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:30 Do you believe that? Let's all find out. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:37 So anyway, first of all, I often say with meditation to be able to feel safe, first of all. All the people in this room I've known for a long time and they're all totally safe. They're kind, they keep precepts. And so it's a beautiful place where you can relax to the max. Report an error in the passage at 0:37 Highlight the passage at 0:37

1:06 I've been using that statement a lot recently. Relax to the max. So to be able to do that, you close your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:06 Highlight the passage at 1:06

1:22 Where are you now? You're in this present moment, in this safe space, in this hall. Report an error in the passage at 1:22 Highlight the passage at 1:22

1:36 So you can keep the eyes closed and find some peace. No one is going to assess you, give you tests, or demean you. Or to give any problems to you at all. In fact, when people do meditate, they usually get healthier and happier. Report an error in the passage at 1:36 Highlight the passage at 1:36

2:03 So it's encouraging you to let go. Let go of the past and let go of the future and be here. Report an error in the passage at 2:03 Highlight the passage at 2:03

2:20 How do you let go of the past and let go of the future? By being kind to the past. Report an error in the passage at 2:20 Highlight the passage at 2:20

2:33 We look at the past with no ill will. If it's something unpleasant, it's amazing how much you can learn from that. And you learn, almost say thank you, and let it go. Report an error in the passage at 2:33 Highlight the passage at 2:33

2:49 And the same for your future. Be kind to the future. When you're kind to the future, it's more likely the good experience will arise. And Report an error in the passage at 2:49 Highlight the passage at 2:49

3:10 when you're in this present moment, The next thing you can probably notice is your body. Report an error in the passage at 3:10 Highlight the passage at 3:10

3:21 And we want to see if we can relax the body even sitting on a chair or sitting on a mat more deeply than you've relaxed before. Report an error in the passage at 3:21 Highlight the passage at 3:21

3:36 So can you feel your body? How is it right now? But to really relax it, you've got to relax it part by part. So see if you can go to your The furthest part of the body from you, your feet, and I go a bit further to my toes. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

4:03 How are your toes right now? Report an error in the passage at 4:03 Highlight the passage at 4:03

4:08 After a while you'll be surprised. If you choose carefully, you can feel any part of your body. When I feel my toes, I thought I was in a good position, but now I notice the toes on my right foot are being squashed. So I'm going to move my body to make even my toes more comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

4:36 And I do that because when you show care to some other person, they always relax. Report an error in the passage at 4:36 Highlight the passage at 4:36

4:48 When you show care to part of your body, not fear but care, even that part of the body relaxes and gets more peaceful, feels more comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:04 It knows you don't ignore it. Report an error in the passage at 5:04 Highlight the passage at 5:04

5:09 Feel my toes. Once they relax, and it's kind of amazing, I never thought you could relax your own toes more than when you started. And Report an error in the passage at 5:09 Highlight the passage at 5:09

5:28 when you relax part of the body, it feels really comfortable and nice. Because I've been doing this a long time. When I relax my own toes, I don't want to go any further. I can just stay there all for a couple of hours and go into deep meditation. All I do now... Let all my toes go to the balls of my feet. Report an error in the passage at 5:28 Highlight the passage at 5:28

5:54 Make sure they're really relaxed. Just caring for them is enough to relax them. And then the soles of my feet and the heels. Report an error in the passage at 5:54 Highlight the passage at 5:54

6:10 As I'm scanning upwards from the toes, I can feel this part of my body and relax them as I go further up. I can feel the uppers of my feet. There's nothing much happening there. But nevertheless, I don't miss any part of the body. I care for the whole body. This is called an exercise of kindfulness, adding kindness to mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 6:10 Highlight the passage at 6:10

6:48 When I get up to my ankles, my whole two feet are really relaxed. Can't feel any tension in them at all. And even my ankles. Report an error in the passage at 6:48 Highlight the passage at 6:48

7:07 If ever you trip or twist and hurt your ankles, just wishing them relaxation, health, kindness, you start to feel so much better. Report an error in the passage at 7:07 Highlight the passage at 7:07

7:27 And then you go further up your legs, like scanning your attention, like a machine can scan your body. But you can understand your body much better than any machine. You start to feel. Report an error in the passage at 7:27 Highlight the passage at 7:27

7:46 Just the calves of your legs, the skin around it, the bones, the muscles, and if you're tired because you've been working hard or playing sport, you can feel those muscles and just relax them. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:08 It's amazing how much influence your attention can have on healing parts of your body, relaxing those parts and allowing them to get so comfortable They kind of disappear. And I get up to my knees. When I get up to my knees, I have fallen off cliffs. Report an error in the passage at 8:08 Highlight the passage at 8:08

8:36 I have fallen off motorbikes when I was young. I have twisted and fell doing some work. Many injuries had happened to my knees, but now my knees are so peaceful, so happy. I can't feel any ache or pain anywhere in my knees. Report an error in the passage at 8:36 Highlight the passage at 8:36

9:05 And I'm imagining them now sinking deeper into the mat that I'm sitting on. So there's no tension around my knees or inside my knees at all. It starts to feel really good. I go up my thighs. Report an error in the passage at 9:05 Highlight the passage at 9:05

9:29 These days I do more talking than work. So my thighs are just nicely at ease. I just scan upwards. It is any part of those muscles or skin or whatever which are unusual, which hurt or which seem to be stretched too much. I pause there. If a little movement of my body can help, I will move. I care for every part of my body. Report an error in the passage at 9:29 Highlight the passage at 9:29

10:06 Then finally I reach my buttocks. When I get there, There's always that feeling which I have when I sit meditating, the feeling of pressure on my bottom. But don't worry about that because you notice that pressure on the bottom, after a while it will go away by itself. It's like a constant feeling. Anything which is constant, the brain very efficiently realizes It's not worth thinking about, and it starts to pay attention to somewhere else. And even the feeling in the bottom disappears. Report an error in the passage at 10:06 Highlight the passage at 10:06

10:59 I go to my waist, just above the bottom, and make sure the waist is comfortable. If I don't sit carefully, sometimes I get a sore back, so I'm now going to just straighten my back a bit. Report an error in the passage at 10:59 Highlight the passage at 10:59

11:16 I've been doing this for such a long time, for many years. I know the best position. For my waist, to make the back nice and strong. It feels good. I don't use pressure or force. I'm doing this for comfort. Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:41 Now I can feel I've got that best position for my back. And now I do a scan inside my body, from the bottom of the torso, just moving upwards. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

11:56 And I check out my digestive system. Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:03 Make sure everything is relaxed. And as I go upwards, if I can experience anything which again is unusual, which is the pain, which is the stress, I just focus on it with kindness. Report an error in the passage at 12:03 Highlight the passage at 12:03

12:20 If it's a pain, I often use a little method of expanding that pain, not to spread the pain further. When I make it take up a bigger space in my body, It kind of dilutes and go even bigger and bigger until it is so dilute I can hardly feel it. Report an error in the passage at 12:20 Highlight the passage at 12:20

12:52 And I keep going upwards until I reach my stomach. I had a nice meal today. From my stomach I go up to my lungs. By the time I get to my lungs I'm already breathing a very small amount of air. Because I'm not active, I'm relaxing. I don't need much oxygen. So everything gets very light and smooth. And Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:30 from my lungs I go to my heart. I just feel that area and give it so much relaxation. My heart just breathes even less intensely. My heart beats less intensely. I'm not excited, I'm not afraid. I'm relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 13:30 Highlight the passage at 13:30

13:58 From there I go to my shoulders. I don't know why this is, but when I start meditating and become kindful of my shoulders, they're always a bit tense. Report an error in the passage at 13:58 Highlight the passage at 13:58

14:13 So now I'm going to relax them, take off the pressure. I always imagine they're like guitar strings on either side of the spine. I'm lessen their tension. Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:31 It feels good. That relaxation. I take down each arm to my elbows, the forearms, wrists, and then hands. And at the hands, at the end of the hands, there are fingers. And I check the position of my fingers. I just ask them, how are you? So I would ask any one of you, make sure you're comfortable. You're not putting on a special show for me. Report an error in the passage at 14:31 Highlight the passage at 14:31

15:10 So my fingers. I'm kind of happy like they are. So I leave them. And then I go back up to my neck. And I find if you don't have your head well balanced on top of the neck, you get some pain after half an hour. Report an error in the passage at 15:10 Highlight the passage at 15:10

15:36 So I make sure my head is well balanced. And those who had their eyes open would have noticed I scratched my nose as well. That's itchy. I care enough about the body, but I don't care what other people think. Obviously, open your eyes and see. This kindfulness is to relax my body and then from the head I go to the face. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

16:09 And I notice any sensations around the eyes, around the mouth and around the nose. And I want to relax them all, to lessen those sensations. Again, one of the ways I do that is any tension. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:32 Around my eyes, I can deliberately learn how to relax that tension. Around the mouth, relax it. And Report an error in the passage at 16:32 Highlight the passage at 16:32

16:47 when those areas of my face get loose, relaxed, then those emotions which are shown on the face also relax. Any fear, anxiety, thinking about the future. Burdened by the past. I can let go. Report an error in the passage at 16:47 Highlight the passage at 16:47

17:17 And then lastly I look at the whole body. I can feel it all. From the head down to the feet. I deliberately, carefully relax each part of it. And Report an error in the passage at 17:17 Highlight the passage at 17:17

17:37 it feels good. I enjoy this. Honestly. And Report an error in the passage at 17:37 Highlight the passage at 17:37

17:49 when it starts to feel good, it relaxes even more. I'm Report an error in the passage at 17:49 Highlight the passage at 17:49

17:58 sitting here in a relaxed body. It's Report an error in the passage at 17:58 Highlight the passage at 17:58

18:06 the first In preparation for deep meditation, the next thing I do, I try and turn to the mind and I use the word peace. Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

18:25 To say that word to yourself, peace, what does it mean? To me I have many duties, many things I should be doing or planning, but Report an error in the passage at 18:25 Highlight the passage at 18:25

18:51 I'd like to stay in this moment because that's where I find peace exists. Report an error in the passage at 18:51 Highlight the passage at 18:51

19:00 Exist in the now. Whatever I did in the past, whatever's before me in the future, that doesn't exist now. Now there's only the present. And Report an error in the passage at 19:00 Highlight the passage at 19:00

19:19 to help, I go deeper into peace by experiencing silence, words, Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:35 no reactions, just being at peace, silently. For Report an error in the passage at 19:35 Highlight the passage at 19:35

19:48 those of you who have done breath meditation, Report an error in the passage at 19:48 Highlight the passage at 19:48

19:55 The breath is what's left. So I start being aware of the breath as it is happening right now and Report an error in the passage at 19:55 Highlight the passage at 19:55

20:13 allow the breath to relax and take you into some really deep meditations. Report an error in the passage at 20:13 Highlight the passage at 20:13

· · · silence, 5 minutes

25:18 Getting close to the end of the meditation now. Please do not open your eyes yet. How Report an error in the passage at 25:18 Highlight the passage at 25:18

25:34 do you feel? How Report an error in the passage at 25:34 Highlight the passage at 25:34

25:41 peaceful is your body? And Report an error in the passage at 25:41 Highlight the passage at 25:41

25:47 how rested is your mind? Report an error in the passage at 25:47 Highlight the passage at 25:47

· · · silence, 1 minute

26:38 I ask, suggest people to reflect at the end of the meditation. That's where you realize what meditation does. It really relaxes you, frees you from stress. Even sometimes what I thought was bad meditation is always good. You relax a little bit. Some days you relax a huge amount. So Report an error in the passage at 26:38 Highlight the passage at 26:38

27:19 I'm now going to, not ring, but chime the gong. To bring you out from the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19