Week 2
Week 2 Homework:
1. Formal Practice: Week 2- Compassion for a Loved One
Ideally you do one meditation a day, either one of the three versions of the CCT meditations, or the audio of Britta’s recorded class meditation.
2. Daily Life Practices:
Reminder: The key idea behind “daily life practices” is that these exercises are intended to be done in the midst of our daily lives. These exercises take what is learned and cultivated in our formal sitting meditation practice and brought into or applied in our daily activities and interactions with others and the world around us.
a) Do “kindness on the go” at least once a day. This could be in the form of silently sending an “anonymous” wish of kindness to a random stranger. For example, in your mind you can say to them, “ May you be happy…..May you be free from suffering……May you find peace and joy.” Notice how you feel after doing so. Bring awareness to your internal experience.
b) Notice when loving-kindness shows up naturally in your daily life– pausing to relish and observe what it feels like in the body. It is great to write this down in your journal.
3. [Optional] Book Reading: A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa Chapters for Week 2: Chapter 6
4. [Optional] Take notes about your meditations and daily practices throughout the week! This can be a helpful way to track your observations, insights, and questions, as well as help keep you accountable. You can journal or use this form each week.
Supplemental Resources:
QUOTES/POEMS:
“I Am Breathing” by Mary Oliver
I Am Breathing
Breathing, just a little life flows
Without thought of each moment passing away
Draining into the next
Every drop of anticipation sucked dry of life’s rich bounty
Unfolding in the unexpected joy of being alive.
Breathing together of all things I find myself awakened
Revelling in every drop of anticipation
Dripping wet in the ripe, rich fruit of life
Flowing effortlessly into the unexpected joy of being alive.
“Love Does That” by Meister Eckhart
All day long a little burro labors, sometimes
with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries
about things that bother only
burros.
And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting
than physical labor.
Once in a while a kind monk comes
to her stable and brings
a pear, but more
than that,
he looks into the burro’s eyes and touches her ears
and for a few seconds the burro is free
and even seems to laugh,
because love does
that.
Love frees.
VIDEOS:
The Role of the Vagus Nerve in Compassion:
Dacher Keltner, Ph.D. The UC Berkeley psychology professor and faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center shares his research on the vagus nerve, a key nexus of mind and body and a biological building block of human compassion.
6 yr. old Jason helping everyone smile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCPc2RlMTII
ARTICLES:
Emotions:
The Life-Changing 90 Second Secret- Jill Bolte Taylor https://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/10/the-life-changing-90-second-secret/
Research on loving-kindness and compassion meditations:
Compassion meditation reduces ‘mind-wandering – Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education found that compassion meditation training can reduce “mind-wandering” and encourage caring and benevolent behavior toward oneself and others.