Tara Brach - Meditation: RAIN of Compassion (retreat) (2015-12-29)

Episode Date: January 15, 2016

Meditation: RAIN of Compassion (retreat) (2015-12-29) - This new version of the acronym RAIN is a powerful way of bringing compassion to the life within you, and to attuning and deepening compassion for others. (from the 2015 New Year's retreat - a guided heart meditation)

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. The hard practice, you might just take a moment to feel your own intention or aspiration toward open-hearted awareness. Whatever language resonates for you, to feel your own sincerity,

really sets the grounds. It draws your heart mind right to that place of being available. It's the current that carries you home. And the body also can be prepared in a way for heart practice with the simple image and felt sense of the smile. If you'd like to just feel your eyes, let the corners. of the eyes, the outside corners lift a bit, soften the eyes, and a slight smile at the mouth, the inside of the mouth smiling, and sensing and inviting a smile to spread through the heart and chest

area, and then just energetically sensing the spirit of a smile, that receptivity and openness, spreading through your whole body, being. It's said that the heart of Buddhism, is compassion and the heart of compassion is self-compassion. It's the place it starts. So we'll do practice this afternoon that can help to awaken our heart of compassion. The alchemy of compassion, the dynamic, the way it arises is that as we allow ourselves to be touched by suffering. As we have that courage,

our availability to suffering, there's a natural tenderness that opens up. That's the tenderness of compassion. And in this process today, as we explore it, we'll be using the acronym Raine, which is familiar to many of you, be using a version that's different than has been taught commonly I've been teaching it in recent days and finding it very helpful.

And in this version of rain, the way it goes is that the R is to recognize the situation, recognize what's going on, and the A of rain is to allow to let B, just as it is, not to try to fix, change, avoid. the eye of rain is to investigate with a gentle attention and primarily the investigation is an inquiry into the felt sense, the body. The end of rain is to then nourish what is experienced with compassion. The key part of the process then is what happens after the activity of rain, which is to rest in the experience of what unfolds from that nourishing rain.

That aftermath of rain, much like when we have a real rain that nourishes the earth, that flowering is really what's described as the shift or enlargement of our sense of our being from a small egoic self that's in some way struggling against something, or with something to that open-hearted awareness, that which is vast and tender, compassionate presence. So we'll explore this today. We'll bring rain to whatever might be up for you and we on purpose emphasize self-compassion in these retreats because whether it's immediately up for us or our in an issue that's not so predominant, there's not one of us that doesn't at some point need to deepen compassion for our own being in order to really wake up out of that egoic

prison. So it's a powerful and necessary tool in our path. some moments to scan your life right now. And by life right now I mean what's going on right here in your life. Whatever's alive for you and sense if there's some circumstance, some situation that you intuit self-compassion, increasing it, bringing self-compassion to your own heart is really important. It could be a life situation you're in with another person, a conflict or challenging experience, parent or child, friend, partner. It could be something at work, a sense of failure, someplace that you're really judging yourself harshly.

It could be around an addictive behavior. It could be some deep. disappointment in yourself. Where would self-compassion soften and open and create more space in your life? And as you focus in on a situation, a set of circumstances, let it be right close in so that you can sense what it is that you get reactive about, what's the state of emotion, heart, body, mind that gets triggered off. Just be aware of the circumstances so you can recognize, okay, this is it, this is where I turn on myself, this is where I get harsh, reactive, closed down, recognize. And then once you've recognized the general place, experience that needs attention,

just consciously allow it to be there. It's like pausing and saying, okay, this is how it is right now, creating space. Who investigating means deepening your attention to what's going on inside you when you're triggered, reactive, turned on yourself. Way of investing you might sense, well, what's the worst part of this for me? What is it almost afraid of, upset about, when I'm feeling stuck, when I'm feeling judgmental? What am I really judging? What am I afraid it's going to happen? Feel into, in your body, where it's coming from.

Sense in your body and you might feel your throat, your chest, your belly. What's going on? What's the felt sense, the feelings, the emotions that are strongest right now? what most needs attention. Is there a sense of shame, that there's really something wrong with me, that I'll never change, I'll never be who I want to be,

I'll never be happy. Is there a sense of unlovable, a sense of failure? Let yourself go right to where there's the strongest sense of vulnerability, of difficulty in your body. and just notice what it feels like if it helps to put your hand on your heart or on your belly

to keep your attention where emotion is strong that can be very skillful you might ask direct the inquiry right to the place in you that's most upset it's most challenged and what is this place most need does it need to be forgiven

does it need acceptance? Does it need to be embraced or held? Does it need some reassurance, something particular to trust? Sense that in you which is most listening, paying attention, the wisest and most caring part of you as you move into the N of rain and offer to the place in you that's most vulnerable or hurting what you most sense it needs.

And again, the touch on the heart can be very much a way of communicating to your inner life. And let the touch, if you haven't done this before, placing your hand gently on your heart and vary the pressure so that it really communicates. care and sense perhaps there's a message to offer inwardly that could be healing, words of wisdom, words of truth. There may be just an energetic sense of accompanying. Listen in and sense what's needed. It might just be this simple words, I'm sorry and I love you. That's words that are offered by one Hawaiian healer.

Ticknat Han says, Darling, I care about this suffering. I sometimes simply say, it's okay, sweetheart. And if it feels that it's hard to offer your own heart or the wounded place, care, you might

call on whatever person or being that you most trust is loving, caring, that can see you truly. It could be a person that's alive or not alive. It could be your dog, cat. It could be a spiritual figure, deity. And just feel the place of yearning to be forgiven or held or loved. And from that place, call on that being. And sense that being's care pouring through your hands,

if your hands are on your heart or just right into your heart. Imagine it. visualize it, see if you can allow yourself to feel it and receive it. Letting warmth, light, love, compassion flow into your heart, sensing your compassionate presence or the compassionate presence of another that you can merge with that and just hold this vulnerable place with unconditional care. You might sense your experience of your own being when there is this holding with compassion and relax back and just rest as that compassionate presence so that whatever's arising is touched with the tenderness of compassion after a rain just resting in the aliveness, the healing, the presence that's right here.

as being that presence. And we've offered compassion inwardly. It becomes quite natural to then include others in our awakening heart. So we'll take a few minutes to bring a healing attention to one other person in our lives. So I'd like to invite you to bring to mind someone that you care about that could use your compassion, your prayers, your energy. And let yourself focus in some and sense the situation or circumstances where that person gets caught in some way, where that person is suffering from feeling down on themselves,

at war with themselves, hurt, fearful, estranged, whatever. it might be, let yourself register that person's suffering or pain close up and just for the moment allow, just create the space for it to be as it is. It's an honest acknowledging of the reality, the actuality, that it's like this. We're bringing rain to this person's experience, recognizing and allowing it, and then deepening our attention by, investigating a bit. It's almost like you can step inside that person and sense, well, what's it like to be you? And you might sense, well, what is it? What is this person believing about the world? Perhaps are themselves, perhaps that they're failing or that they don't belong,

that they'll never be who they want to be. They're not lovable, not good, not okay. Maybe the person's had a great loss, that they can't make it, that they, their life's lost meaning. Just sense what it is and imagine and sense into that person's body what it would be like to be living with this. So you're investigating and sensing what's it really like to be living with that doubt or that fear or that grief or that hurt. What's the worst part of this for that person?

to the nourishing with compassion. You might sense that person in your heart that you're holding that person in your heart, sensing what that person most needs and offering it, offering the love, the reassurance, the accompaniment. You might envision yourself holding that person or putting a hand on that person's cheek.

You might send a mental whisper of a message saying the person's name, offering them your prayer of care. And again, after the activity of rain, just sensing your own beingness, who you are when there's this tenderness of compassion, sensing the field of presence, the field of awake, open-hearted awareness that's here. and just resting as that awareness, just letting whatever arise be known and touched by love.

These verses are from the radiant sutras. There is a place in the heart where everything meets. Go there if you want to find me. Mind, senses, soul, eternity, all are there. Are you there? enter the bowl of vastness that is the heart. Give yourself to it with total abandon. Quiet ecstasy is there and a steady regal sense of resting in a perfect spot.

Once you know the way, the nature of attention will call you to return again and again and be saturated with knowing, I belong here. I am at home here. Once you know the way, the nature. nature of attention will call you to return again and again and be saturated with knowing, I belong here, I am at home here. I wanted to just make a couple of comments about the reign of compassion, recognize, allow, investigate, nourish.

And one is that it's not a one-shot, especially with self-compassion. And if you keep running that like hundreds and hundreds of times, you'll actually become more of a sense that who you are is that compassionate, caring presence than the self that was, you know, oppressed or in some way wrong or bad. But it takes many rounds. You might find in one guided practice that you didn't get to the end or the end didn't work or whatever. And it just means there's more.

So I'm so aware when we do guided meditations that you may not be in the mood for that particular meditation or you may only get to a certain part or your pacing might be different. So I just want to invite you to really make it your own, any of these, and give them time and over and over again and you'll find that the pathways home to your heart become more and more available to you. So thank you for your attention.