LOVING/KINDNESS-SUBTLE MIND -UNIT 8

The two practices that I have determined to be most beneficial to my life are the Loving/Kindness and the Subtle Mind meditations/exercises.

• The loving/Kindness meditation/exercise can be brought in to support the practice of 'bare attention' to help keep the mind open and sweet. It provides the essential balance to support your insight meditation practice. It is a fact of life that many people are troubled by difficult emotional states in the pressured societies we live in, but do little in terms of developing skills to deal with them. Yet even when the mind goes sour it is within most people's capacity to arouse positive feelings to sweeten it. Loving-kindness is a meditation practice taught by the Buddha to develop the mental habit of selfless or altruistic love. In the Dhammapada can be found the saying: "Hatred cannot coexist with loving-kindness, and dissipates if supplanted with thoughts based on loving-kindness." Loving-kindness is a meditation practice, which brings about positive attitudinal changes as it systematically develops the quality of 'loving-acceptance'. It acts, as it were, as a form of self-psychotherapy, a way of healing the troubled mind to free it from its pain and confusion. Of all Buddhist meditations, loving-kindness has the immediate benefit of sweetening and changing old habituated negative patterns of mind. This meditation I love because it helps me to feel compassion and love for all living beings, to accept them as they are and to be a protector of life because of my love for others.

• The Subtle Mind meditation helps me to feel my awareness is in the centre of my chest. Observe my breathing in a relaxed and detached way and I do not force my breathing. The purpose of this exercise is to slow, calm and relaxes your breathing –this in turn helps to calm and quieting the mind, to prepare yourself for meditation. It is important that our breathing is calm and relaxed before we attempt to focus on the next level which is single pointed concentration. We need to spend a few minutes “letting go” of our hectic outer activities and the impact they have on our mental state. A breathing exercise is perfect for this. While acting with various evil desires, attachments and hatreds and fears with knowledge of forms of thought and language, the subtle thought process become unclean. The unclean thought process is a source of stress and sadness to the mind and disease in the physical body. The unclean thought process can be washed with spiritual meditation as we wash physical body with water. Physical Life is an extension of the subtle mind, which is consciousness and reflection. Physical life is merely acting under the orders of consciousness as the fate or the idea of knowledge through the thought process of mind. Acts of conscience in the spirit with the eternal inner spiritual knowledge are free from any form and language spoken in the world. The processes of thought in the mind also act with subtle thought forms of academic knowledge and language. Thoughts to mind subtle process can not act at the same time, as eternal spiritual knowledge and awareness within the thought forms of knowledge and learned the language of civilization.

I would implement both these exercises in my life by first realizing that Meditation need not be separated from life experiences, but can in fact be learned and integrated into the most exotic and mundane of our human experience. I will create a lifestyle of meditation - not only in a lotus position, or necessarily in silence, but actively involved with my life and likewise actively in tune with my heart. The main product of consistent meditation is something life long Buddhists refer to as 'the emptying process." Over time, an enormous amount of negative energy accumulates. The emptying process of meditation allows one to let go of that negativity. It will be implemented in my daily routine as breakfast, lunch and dinner or be a necessity same as sleep and rest to the body. A common misconception in regard to the subject of meditation is that it is solely a practice, an alternative to prayer or worship. While perfecting the art of meditation does take daily practice, the diligence of such practice methodically creates a lifestyle abundant in peacefulness, healthiness and wellness. The body, mind and soul all benefit from meditation, combining to forge a philosophy known as "The Art of Living." I can get closer to God with both these exercises and meditating in who he is. There’s a saying (by Robin J. Gunn) that goes like this: “If you feel far from God, guess who moved?” God doesn’t move away from us. He is faithful and loves us. Sometimes we get caught up in so many activities and end up not spending time with Him. And so in order to get in step with Him we need to rekindle that fire. These meditations help me to go before Him and rekindle my fire and desire for God. Mind, body, soul and spirit well-being is a way of life, a healthy life style and through God is where I find my peace and strength.


Holla at You’ll later!!!!!!


But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved
Ephesians 2:4-5.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9


“Love is First and God is Love” Then GOD is first in our lives!