A meditation, reflection, and responses to questions on the power of conceiving of ourselves as interconnected. With examples from Palestine, the meditation cushion, and living with illness and loss. In all cases, perhaps this transformative idea is more potent than it is true. Some links from this session: Essential Surgery in Palestine: https://chuffed.org/project/123753-essential-surgery-for-palestinian-medical-student James Skeet, from Just Stop Oil, talking to Scroobius Pip on Distraction Pieces Podcast: https://www.scroobiuspip.co.uk/dp-player/?fl=https://embed.acast.com/$/ad4e2f12-9862-4cf6-b6af-3ae392c45fad/612jso&dl= Sacred Places with SanghaSeva | Meditation in Action: https://www.sanghaseva.org/comingup.html#sacred

This guided meditation is inspired by John Makransky's Field of Care meditation where we practice first receiving kindness and care from a benefactor or kind moment and then include others into that field of care.

In this guided meditation with instructions, we begin with connecting with the felt sense of metta, then explore offering phrases for a benefactor, mentor, or good friend.

Guided Meditation

When we hear the words "be mindful," it often makes us think we have to intensify and be vigilant. But quite the opposite is true. This guided meditation is meant to help us find a softer, more receptive and sustainable way of being present.

We begin with a brief account of the nature of samadhi (usually translated as "concentration"), and then give instructions for developing samadhi in formal meditation. (We'll come back to discuss samadhi in more depth in the talk.) There are several reminders during the meditation to return to the focus on cultivating samadhi. In the last part of the meditation, we connect the greater stability that's developed in the practice of cultivating samadhi with cultivating mindfulness.