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Guided Meditation: Light of Awareness; Dharmette: Gratitude (5 of 5) Spreading Goodwill and Care - Gil Fronsdal

The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on November 29, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Guided Meditation: Light of Awareness

Hello on this Friday morning. For people in the United States, it is the day after Thanksgiving. Perhaps with whatever goodwill exists here in this community today, coming together, there is a way of meditating where, even if we center ourselves on breathing, the attitude of mindfulness and attention is to be open to all things—to be aware of all things in all directions.

One analogy I have for this is if you turn on a light bulb in a dark room. If you could slow down time to be really, really slow, you would see that the light would move through progressively. First, right by the light bulb, and then it would go further out. It would light up the objects that are close to it, and then it would light up the objects further away, and further away. It would light out in all directions of the light bulb, equally, freely, and openly, to touch whatever is there. If it only goes so far because it's in a room, then it has no problem with that; that's the distance it goes.

In the same way, I like to think of our capacity for awareness like a little light bulb within. Rather than directing that attention someplace, we turn it on and let it radiate. Let it spread like a lighthouse or something, and let it just take in whatever is nearby.

If awareness is centered in the heart—which is the traditional Buddhist idea, rather than in the West where we often might think it's in the brain—if it is in the heart center, an emotional center in the torso or the chest, then as that light spreads out, maybe it first comes to the movements of the body associated with breathing. It spreads further; it goes through the body more widely. Maybe in some ways, it goes further and notices thinking and emotions. If it goes further, it goes beyond into the room, into the atmosphere around you. In a sense, it just keeps spreading. The light of your awareness is ready to take in anything that comes under its gaze. No problem. Light from a light bulb has no problem; it just lights something up.

Assume a meditation posture that maybe has the same attitude of a light bulb that has no lampshade around it—open, present, available, and confident in posture. Gently close the eyes and arrive at the center. Arrive in some centered awareness.

You might take a few long, slow, deep breaths. Not too full, but comfortably long breaths. As you inhale, feel the movements of your body, the stretching of the rib cage. As you exhale, a relaxing, a settling.

Let your breathing return to normal and continue relaxing a bit as a way of settling—removing the cover from your light bulb. As you exhale, relaxing the muscles of your face.

As you inhale, feeling your shoulders. As you exhale, relaxing the shoulders.

Inhale, feeling the chest. Exhaling, softening in the chest.

Inhaling, feeling the belly. Exhaling, softening in the belly.

Inhaling with a broad awareness of your body. Exhaling, relaxing, softening the whole body.

Breathing in, breathing out. Gentle, soft. Feeling the body breathing on the inhale, softening on the exhale.

On the inhale, feeling the thinking mind. On the exhale, relaxing the thinking mind.

Centering yourself in the area of breathing. Allowing for the inhale to occur. Allowing the exhale all the way to the end of the exhale.

Feeling the last sensations in your torso associated with exhaling; that might be the place where the inhale begins. Perhaps you can feel that the light of awareness, the little light bulb, is right there where the inhale begins. Or maybe you have another place within—a still, quiet place where the light of awareness can shine, open equally to everything.

Where the first thing it encounters is breathing in the body. And whatever else comes into the range of the light, just let it be known with the same undisturbed quality of light that shines upon anything equally. Everything equally. Allowing your light to spread as far as it wants to spread.

And then, as we come to the end of the sitting, imagine your awareness is like a light, but a light that is filled with the warmth of goodwill. Your goodwill, in whatever way that is your way. There are different colors of light; some are warm, some are cold, some are bright. With a warm light of awareness, let that awareness spread out into the world.

Spreading to your neighborhoods, your counties, your provinces. Spread out across the land as if you can gaze upon the world kindly. As if every light ray from your inner light is a touch of kindness that touches the world. As if you do have the ability to warm up the world, to inspire the world with goodness and kindness.

Spread your goodwill out into the world, maybe riding on the wish that you can silently repeat after me:

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be safe.

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be free.

And may the warmth of our attention, our kind gaze, convey to the world that we want them well, that we care. May all beings be happy.

Thank you.

Dharmette: Gratitude (5 of 5) Spreading Goodwill and Care

Hello and welcome to the fifth talk on gratitude.

I want to begin with a couple of quotes from the Suttas¹, the ancient teachings of the Buddha. One is the Buddha saying: "There are two kinds of people who are rare in this world: the one who helps and the one who is grateful."

The ones who help and the ones who are grateful—they need each other. There is a circle of giving and a circle of receptivity that allows the gift to continue down through the ages. The wheel of giving and receiving, the wheel of generosity and care, and the wheel of being cared for, of receiving generosity. Both are important, and ideally, we play both parts.

Many years ago, I learned how unfortunate it is at times when someone wants to offer a small favor, to do something, to say no. I remember once I was going to offer a friend a ride to the airport. I was so happy to be able to do it and spend time with my friend. The person was clearly very embarrassed or didn't want to put me out; felt somehow they were a burden and said, "No, no, no." So finally, I kind of let go, and I thought to myself, "Oh, this is so unfortunate." I had this wonderful, delightful feeling; I wanted to do something for my friend, and it didn't go anywhere.

This idea of receiving and then being grateful—offering gratitude and thanks—is a form of generosity. So it keeps it going. But these two things are rare in the world: those who help and those who are grateful. I should say that ideally, we play both sides of that when the time is appropriate.

I'm inspired by an account in the Suttas of a meeting of King Pasenadi² with the Buddha. It seems like they were the same age; they had known each other for many, many years. I think soon after the Buddha's awakening he met King Pasenadi, and they were friends, leaders in their own rights. They died around the same year, so they knew each other for some 45 years or so.

Near the end of that time, the King comes to visit the Buddha. He bows down to the ground when he sees the Buddha and he exclaims, "I am King Pasenadi, Bhante! I am King Pasenadi, Bhante!" Bhante means "Sir." I think in ancient India especially, it might seem very odd for some people in the United States that you would twice declare who you are in the presence of a wonderful, great person. But there's something about the King making it public that, "Yes, this is who I am, and I'm bowing down to you fully. In the fullness, all of who I am is here bowing down to you."

The Buddha says, "Why is it that you show so much gratitude and loving-kindness to me to do this?"

That was kind of a wonderful question: "Why?" But the Buddha describes it as gratitude and loving-kindness that the King is offering to the Buddha. The King offers a whole series of reasons why he does this, but I want to read the first one. It is because the Buddha practices for the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people. You establish many people in the noble practice—that is, the path of the good Dharma³, in the way of the wholesome. It is for this reason I honor you with this blaze of loving-kindness and gratitude.

So, the Buddha is one of those who helps people, and he received the honor and the kindness of the King by asking him, "Why is it?" He accepted it, and then he let it continue. He heard what the King had to say. Maybe he knew this was being recorded. I just love the idea that the King would see it—this is what the Buddha is about: living for the welfare and happiness of others.

As we come to the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, some of us have been maybe with family and friends for this occasion; some have not. But it is a kind of coming together, often in a small group. Now it's time to open up the heart more widely. Now is the time to expand whatever goodwill, whatever thankfulness, whatever love and care there has been close in for yourself, for your immediate family, friends, and your neighbors, to now expand it. Keep expanding.

This is the nature of the Dharma: to keep expanding. To learn how to love, learn how to care, learn how to be generous, and keep it for those who are close to us—don't lose it—but expand it, open it up wider and wider. There's no limit to how far a light can shine. No limit to the 360 degrees that the light can shine all around. So for us, there's no limit to how far and how all-encompassing our love, our care, our goodwill can be out into the world. No limit to the gratitude we have for all that supports our life, all that allows us to be aware and mindful. It allows us the amazing opportunity to be kind, the amazing opportunity to be generous, the amazing opportunity to care for others as we care for ourselves, as we care for our loved ones out into the world.

So on this day after Thanksgiving, the end of our five days on gratitude, let it serve as a foundation for spreading our goodwill out into the whole world.

When we don't have that universal goodwill, it's okay. But don't just go along with it. See what it is that gets in the way. See what you're doing. Are you stressed? Are you afraid? Are you angry? What's going on for you that your heart is not open? And love yourself in spite of that. It's not a cause for shame or disregard for yourself, but that's where the practice is. Practice with it. Because if you do, something inside will shift, change, and relax, and your capacity for universal goodwill in all directions can grow again. You have the capacity; it's part of who you are. It's a gift for the world, one that the world deeply needs.

May it be that the practice that you do of mindfulness meditation, the Dharma, may it be that your practice includes practicing for the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people. Establishing people in the good, in the wholesome. And may that good and that wholesomeness spread to every corner of the universe.

May all beings be happy.

Thank you very much for this week, and for today, and for what's coming in our YouTube community. Very much appreciate it, and I'll be here on Monday again. Thank you.