Tara Brach - Heart Meditation: Taking in the Goodness (retreat)

Episode Date: December 2, 2016

Heart Meditation: Taking in the Goodness (2016-11-05) (from the IMCW Fall Retreat) - Rumi said, "Whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way – toward the source of kindness." This meditation guides us to look for the source of loving and to turn in that direction. It begins with a lovingkindness practice that spreads the image of a smile into the body, then continues with a practice of seeing the goodness of ourselves and others. "What's it like when you communicate your appreciation of goodness to another person?"

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. Heart practices are really moving from this realm of thinking, conceptual to the heart, and keeping the heart in the body as a center of awareness as a way of homecoming. It has to be kinesthetic.

This particular practice today will be, really emphasizing goodness. Because of our negativity bias, we don't really immerse and take in and sense the feeling of what it's like to observe goodness in ourselves or others. And with ourselves, we rarely acknowledge it. We're so organized around what's wrong. So that's where we'll pay attention today. Rumi says, whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way toward the source of kindness. So we'll be looking for the source of loving and turning in that direction,

finding a posture that allows you to be alert, sitting upright, and also at ease. This is a way of initially collecting your attention, you might take a nice, full, deep, in-breath, and then a slow-out breath, slow enough so you can feel the sensations leaving the nostrils and then another nice long deep in-breath, slow out breath, letting go, letting go one more time, deep full in-breath and a slow-out breath, relaxing outward,

letting the breath resume in its natural rhythm, noticing the quality of presence, it's right here from that space of presence, sensing your your most sincere intention for this practice. As a way of creating a receptivity and openness in the body, I like to do a classical pre-metapra practice in a way it's a body metta practice of the smile down. Just begin by sensing a great smile spreading through the sky. Just vast, that great sky that's out there just just. spreading through it, the uplift of a smile.

You can imagine the mind in the sky emerging so that the mind is filled with that uplift curve, that openness of a smile. Letting the smile spread through the eyes, lifting the outer corners of the eyes, softening the eyes, letting the brow be smooth. Sensing the mouth, a slight smile. This directly helps to quiet the sympathetic nervous system, bring a sense of benevolence, ease. You might even sense the inside of the mouth smiling.

Then let a smile spread through the heart area, smiling into the heart. It's not to cover over what's there, but rather to create that space and receptivity for the life that's here. Visualizing and feeling the smile. spreading through the heart area. I'm just sensing that that energy of a smile can now radiate out in all directions through your body. So that even in a cellular way, spaces between the cells,

there's that quality of receptivity, tenderness, openness, and bringing to mind someone in your life who's dear to you that's very easy to feel love with, where it's not complex, it could be an adult or child. You can be somebody that's no longer alive. You can be a pet. Sense this person close in or there's being close in. So you can be reminded of what you love.

Sensing the goodness spirit that chines through in the way it gets expressed. You might imagine this being gazing at you, the way they show affection, sensing this being's humor and brightness, the way they look when they're alive, really fully alive and happy, and whatever's most special to you about them. Sensing this being communicating care to you and sense yourself. communicating care to this being. You might imagine it through touch, through words, simply saying or whispering their name,

saying thank you or I love you. And again, from their heart, with your heart. And sense the quality of warmth and aliveness in your own heart area. Just let it be as big as it can be as it naturally could be. this feeling of loving appreciation. Allow yourself to sense the goodness of this. To whatever degree this heart space is activated, tenderized. So you're really now turning to sense the goodness of this being right here, your own being, the goodness of the love that's here. And sensing that goodness and sensing whatever else in this moment you sense you're

appreciating about your own being, about the life that's here. It might be your honesty, might be your intention and longing to wake up, to be more real, more open-hearted, more living in truth. And if you find it at all difficult to reflect on your own goodness, to look through the eyes of one who loves you, to sense your own your own sincerity, your own care, the way goodness expresses. And as you reflect, as you bear witness to your own goodness, you might find it helps to put your hand on your heart and sense that you're with yourself. Let the touch itself communicate presence and appreciation and gentleness, beholding

your own being. sense whatever prayer or blessing or wish most resonates right in this moment to offer yourself. And you might whisper that prayer or blessing again with the depths of sincerity and sense the experience of loving presence that's here. And it's from that heart space of caring that we widen the field a bit and bring to mind another being who you care about. And as you do, sense that you're seeing them for the first time. So you're not allowing yourself to be influenced by your past knowledge or experience of them.

Just for the first time, bringing this being right close in. Just look for the things in them that you may have missed because of familiarity. Anthony de Mello says, you cannot love what you cannot see afresh. You cannot love what you are not constantly discovering anew. Taking these precious moments to discover afresh the goodness in a being who's dear to you. And as you sense what you care about, that being's creativity or vibrancy or way of showing love, quirkiness, mischievousness, humor, whatever it is, just feel that place in the heart where there may be some expression of warmth or light.

Just feel it viscerally. And from that place, from that heart space, offer your blessing, your prayer of care, a mental whisper from your heart to that being's heart. And imagine them receiving it. imagining the look on their face and the energetic expression as they feel and receive your care. And continuing to practice with seeing the goodness, choosing someone else in your life that you'd like to feel that sense of connection and intimacy with through appreciation just to bring that person close in right here in the room, just seeing them, seeing them and remembering what they're like and they're happy, curious, feeling love,

engaged. Again, feeling that appreciation in a felt-sense way in the heart, and letting them know what you appreciate, expressing along with your blessing. Sense how that's received. What's it like when you communicate your appreciation of goodness to another person? What happens? Coming back again to sense the warmth and light that's right here. And if, as you've been practicing, you felt cut off or numb or sleepy,

are just not there with warmth and light, to bring a very gentle witnessing presence to that, to let that be okay. Part of the way of holding yourself dear is to know we have seasons in the heart. You can completely forgive and allow whatever season is here. It's from that heart space that forgives and allows and has it seasons of light and warmth that we widen out

and sense all of us sitting here. It's not saying that a collective goodness of our intention to awaken our hearts. The preciousness of that. and imagining and sensing this field of heart space as infinite in all directions, so that together our collective heart space is really holding the earth, our mother, and our laps, this earth that needs our care and our tenderness and our love so much. This collective heart space is holding all beings.

Thomas Merritton writes, then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depth of their hearts where neither sin nor knowledge could reach, the core of reality, the person that each one is in the eyes of the divine, if only they could see themselves as they really are, if only we could see each other that way all the time, there would be no more need for war,

for hatred, for greed, for cruelty. I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other in these last few moments, sensing the presence that's right here and allowing whatever arises to be held in the tenderness of your heart.