69 Arousing Compassion through the Power of Imagination

B. Alan Wallace, 09 Sep 2015

Alan introduces the meditation on compassion by describing how the close application of mindfulness of our body and mind gives rise to a natural sense of caring and empathy. Through our imagination we can extend this to an understanding about the experiences of others. Alan talks about the power of our imagination and quotes from The Flight of the Garuda by Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol who describes how samsara and nirvana are created in the second moment of consciousness through imaginative ignorance. When we are without empathy we are locked in and frozen by small mindedness. It can seem simpler not to care for others or only for those closest to us. However, suffering has no owner and the plight of refugees is a reminder of this. Shamatha provides a way to melt our crystallised samsaric minds. When we achieve the first dhyana, a deeper form of empathy and compassion arises through bodhicitta and the ability to directly perceive the feelings and thoughts of others. Then when we are able to tap into rigpa, we achieve supra mundane siddhis and our compassion becomes non-dual and very powerful.

The silent meditation on compassion was not recorded.


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