In the blog category “Guided Meditations”, I will provide detailed explanations for all the guided meditation tracks that I will place in the Resources section of this website. These blog posts will be hyperlinked from the “Guided Meditations” page under “Resources” menu option where these meditation tracks in mp3 format will be placed for streaming or for downloading.
The meditation entitled “Looking Deeply, Release” appears in chapter IV of the book “The Blooming of a Lotus” by Thich Nhat Hanh. This conscious breathing meditation can be used to be in touch with all the feelings that create anger and to then transform the seeds that create anger within us. The in-breath is to experience a certain feeling that generates anger. The out-breath smiles and cultivates compassion to that feeling.
When we experience anger due to the actions of others; they end up creating knots in our consciousness. These knots tie us up and obstruct our freedom. Our default method of dealing with such situations is to seek revenge on others in the hope that the knots that are created in their consciousness by our actions of revenge will somehow loosen the knots that are in our consciousness. However, it seldom works that way. What does happen is that the knots in our consciousness grow stronger, they gain power to dictate our behavior and our suffering continues.
There is now ample research that has shown that the physical effects of anger on our body can be long lasting. Some studies have shown a connection between anger and high blood pressure, depression and heart disease leading to more chances of occurrences of heart attack.
The practice of mindfulness meditation can help us realize the fact that the root cause of our suffering is the presence of the seeds of anger within us. We can gently remove such seeds by the practice of mindfulness and conscious breathing after which we can experience transformation and healing. With these seeds removed, there will be a dissipation of anger within us. The other people who caused the original experience of anger within us will no longer dictate our default reaction to seek revenge thereby leading to transformation and healing within us.
Towards the beginning of this meditation, I request that we intentionally cultivate an attitude of patience, gentleness and kindness towards ourselves before we begin these exercises. It is very important that mindfulness meditations be accompanied by a sense of openness otherwise their effectiveness may be diminished. Towards the ending of this meditation, I request that we dedicate the merits of this practice to ourselves as well as to all others by affirming these statements:
“May I be happy, may I be peaceful, may I live with ease.
May all beings be happy, may all beings be peaceful, may all beings live with ease”
At the end of the day, we are practicing mindfulness meditation not just for ourselves but also for all others.
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