Buddhist Beliefs

The Buddha said more than two and a half millennia ago, all beings want happiness and wish to avoid suffering. At first glance, this may seem like a simplistic observation however, a closer examination will reveal an extraordinary implication.

Everyone has this innate wish, the wish for greater happiness, it is not a selfish wish, however, we often use erroneous methods in our endeavors to find it. Many people believing that happiness can be found through physical stimuli or financial security, spend their entire lives chasing after money, power and fame only to be exhausted by their efforts. Buddhism asserts that although external conditions, such as, money or a nice car do play a role in a good life, they are not the real causes of happiness. You don’t need to look too far to find people who are materially well off, yet experience unhappiness, which if left unchecked can lead to depression. This does not mean we should not have material things or work towards providing for our families. Owning a nice car, a big house or having a highly paid career is not the issue. The issue is how we relate to these things. The real source of life’s problems and their resolutions can be found within our mind.
What I find most compelling about the Buddha’s statement is he hints at our fundamental capacity to expand and develop our experiences of happiness. Not the kind of happiness that is generated by forcing yourself to laugh or the kind of happiness that is sometimes jokingly described as happy happy joy joy. The happiness that is referred to here, is a genuine feeling of joy that naturally arises due to the cultivation of functional states of mind. It is a feeling of contentment with yourself, your life and the things and events that you encounter. It is not a passive experience. It makes you want to embrace life and the people you encounter through it. So his statement, all beings want happiness and want to avoid suffering, is not merely an observation but rather a supremely optimistic statement.

This statement of the Buddha also hints at our current situation. Like it or not, most people experience unwanted problems. Be they big or small, they are problems nonetheless and they are unwanted! No one wakes up in the morning and thinks, today I hope nothing but problems come my way. In fact the opposite is often the case. We wake up thinking about all the good things that might happen. We plan our day, thinking of the things we need to get done. Yet unexpected problems do arise. We can find ourselves experiencing the tension of a strained relationship, the stress of deadlines, or even the boredom of work. The Buddha points this out as a means of motivating us to begin our journey. Don’t live in denial. Face up to the fact that we do, even if just occasionally, experience these problems but, understand there is something you can do about this situation. You have the power to change your life, no one else can do it for you. In this regard the Buddha once said,

You are your own protector,
who else will be this protector?

This is great news, you can change your life and it is not that difficult. However, it is a journey, and like all good journeys, it starts with making the decision to go. To sum up then, the basic framework of the Buddha’s message is. All of us want happiness, yet what happiness we currently experience is fleeting at best. However, it is possible to experience real and lasting happiness that transcends any experience of happiness or bliss that is generated from physical stimuli, and that the methods which enable this can be found within our own mind.
This is where meditation comes in. Meditation is the tool used in the Enlightenment Project. It is both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in this endeavor. Meditation introduces you to the world of your mind. A world that for many has remained hidden. Meditation brings the world of your mind to the forefront of life. Making it work for you rather than letting it enslave you. Many people are unaware of the potential of their mind or the role it plays in your life. Many unaware of this go through life acting out in habitual ways, reacting with events habitual tendencies, many of which lead to the problems describe earlier. The removal of dysfunctional states of mind, such as anger, jealousy or pride and the development of functional minds such as the minds of loving-kindness, compassion and wisdom constitutes the Enlightenment Project.

Here are 3 books I recommend for more information on death, dying and associated meditations.

But you may also want to have a look at these posts also.

Prayer and meditations for the dying
The death process in Buddhism
The purpose of prayer in Buddhism

1: Theory based book on death etc.If you want to know the details of the death process this is a great book for that.
Intermediate Buddhism

Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth by Lati Rinpoche Read more about this title…

2: A great book for new comes to Buddhism or for someone dealing with death wither directly or indirectly.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition by Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick D. Gaffney, Andrew Harvey Read more about this title…

3: Practice based book by a an outstanding and popular Tibetan Lama/yogi. This books deals with meditation practices for the sick and dying.

Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lillian Too Read more about this title…

Recently my blog posts have been focused on death or dying as one of my lama’s passed away.

Buddhism sees death as a natural part of life and something that is neither negative or bad. I even blogged about the death process here. Previous to these two posts, I wrote about the purpose of prayer in Buddhism. So in this post I want to combine these two themes and provide some ideas that may assist you or another through the process of dying.

Having a good death?

Is it possible to have a good death? Absolutely ! Generally speaking, death is seen by Buddhism as a great enemy - one that takes away the precious opportunity to practice Dharma. This is the reason for the images of death being demonic types.

As Milarepa said

Frightened of death I ran to the mountains to meditate. Now that I have seen the nature of my mind I welcome death.

You see, death to a Buddhist has contextual meaning. That is, when one is alive and healthy we use death meditation to shake us from laziness and complacency. Thinking about your own mortally is great motivation to practice and to improve our mind (remember that the goal of the Buddhist path is the freedom from dissatisfactoriness by replacing dysfunctional states of mind with functional ones). Because at the time of death nothing is of greater benefit than your practice. It is said that money can’t help you, how popular you were is no benefit and no matter how many pairs of shoes you have you cant take them with you.

But once death is a upon us, our focus and how we relate to death shifts from using it as a motivational tool to one of acceptance and letting go. In fact for great meditators, the time of death is an exciting time, as it is during the actual process of death that they gain access to the very subtle Clear Light mind and they have the chance to purify the last remnants of dualistic perception - thus achieving enlightenment.

How long can the process take?

It is said that the process of rebirth can take up to 49 days. For this reason prayers for the recently deceased should continue for that period of time. Can someone take rebirth sooner than 49 days? Yes, but you should still continue to say prayers for 49 days.

What to do before someone passes away?

1: Take time out to care for the dying person, make them feel that there is someone here to look after them, support them and listen. People need to feel that they are supported both before they die and after. So listen to them without judgement.

2: Stay focused on the positive and encourage the person to rejoice in their spiritual achievements regardless of how much or little practice they did during their life. Remind them of meditation retreats they did, talk about the good times or let them tell you stories of meeting great Lamas. This will uplift the dying persons mind…regrets at this point are useless! And it goes without saying that feelings of guilt and anger will only lead to problems.

3: It is especially useful to encourage and support letting go when the actual time has come. Therefore it is important to understand the process of dying. It is of no benefit to the dying person to tell them they won’t die or, to dismiss their feelings and words of letting go.

4: It is useful to arrange for the dying person (before they die) to give away their belongings, to make donations where they can, save the lives of animals, say goodbye to friends and to make funeral arrangements.
I have found that when I tell people that I will say prayers and meditate for them both before and after their death, and that I can say a couple of prayers at their funeral they are very very happy.

5: Help support faith, devotion and confidence by arranging the room with images such as Medicine Buddha, or one’s Lama. Try to minimize the display of loved ones as this can promote attachment, clinging and in extreme cases upset to dying person. Leaving a photo of a new grand child for example wont help the dying person. Showing them photos that are requested is fine but, continual reminders of what they will not see again will only result is a depressed mind.

6: Practice meditation together. I have been to see people dying of cancer in hospitals, where we performed Medicine Buddha puja, meditated on compassion and perform dedication prayers - the merit of the dying person is dedicated to their future good rebirth and the benefit of all sentient beings.

What to do after a loved one has passed away.

If you are not Buddhist, thinking good thoughts is the best advise. Not getting depressed and excessively crying over your loss will help both yourself and the recently deceased. If you are Buddhist below are a couple of short prayer you can request for someone dying or recently deceased.

Prayers for the dead and dying

Buddhist prayers for the dying

Chanting the names of Manjushri
Great Treasury of Excellence - The Prayer of the Path to Enlightenment.
The prayer benefiting past, present and future.
Long Life sutra.
Medicine Buddha sadhana.
White Tara long life sadhana.
Amitabha Sadhana - Transference of Consciousness.

If you would like to request prayers for the dying or recently deceased you can do so by contacting me http://lodenjinpa.com/about/

Death is a progressive process of the dissolution of body and mind that can be divided into eight main stages. As the body deteriorates, the energy required to sustain sense consciousness such as our eye awareness, then course conceptual consciousness - thoughts and emotions - and finally subtle consciousness is lost. At the same time there are specific signs or appearances to mind that mark these eight stages. The last stage being called the Clear Light of death or Mother Clear Light.

The point at which this Clear Light of death becomes manifest is of vital importance in a meditators life, as it is at this stage that one’s meditation can herald deep realisations into the nature of reality and propel a yogi along the path to enlightenment in very short period of time.

Also from an ordinary point of view, when death comes to an ordinary human it comes in a series of dissolutions. Since we will all face this process at some point, it is seen as important to understand the death process, if only to not let oneself fall subject to fear and so forth.

The Mind at Death

It is said that the state of mind of an ordinary being at death plays a large role in determining the type of rebirth that the being will take. Therefore it is very important to die with a positive state of mind. Therefore it is very useful for the dying to practice meditation, practice generosity by giving away their belongs, and saying goodbye to loved ones.

The Twenty Five gross objects

The Five Aggregate:

1. Form
2. Feeling
3. Discrimination
4. Compositional factors
5. Consciousness

The Five Basic Wisdom:

1. Basic Mirror-like wisdom
2. Basic wisdom of equality
3. Basic wisdom of analysis
4. Basic wisdom of achieving activities
5. Basic wisdom of the nature of phenomena

The Four Elements:

1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Wind

The Six Sources:

1. Eye sense
2. Ear sense
3. Nose sense
4. Tongue sense
5. Body sense
6. Mind sense

The Five Objects:

1. Visible forms
2. Sounds
3. Odours
4. Tastes
5. Tangibles

These 25 gross/course objects constitute one way of enumerating our mind-body complex.

The dissolution process as stated earlier can be presented in 8 stages.
In the first four stages there is the simultaneous dissolution of a group of the 25 gross object from the list above. Don’t think of this process as one thing dissolving into another, it is more like the power of one group can no longer operate and so another becomes manifest. At each stage there is both an internal sign and an external sign associated with the dissolution of the various elements of the body and mind.

The Dissolution Process

The First Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the form aggregate, the basic mirror-like wisdom, the earth element, the eye sense and visible forms.

Internal sign - Mirage like vision.

External sign - the body withers, sights become unclear, and there is a feeling as if the body has become heavy.

The Second Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the feeling aggregate, the basic wisdom of equality, the water element, the ear sense and sounds.

Internal sign - Smoke like vision.

External sign - Feelings of pain and pleasure associated with the body are no longer felt. The bodies liquids dry up and sounds can no longer be hearing, including the buzzing in one’s ears.

The Third Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the discrimination aggregate, the wisdom of analysis, the fire element, the nose sense and odours.

Internal sign -The vision of sparks against a dark background.

External sign - The name’s of people and objects can no longer be remembered. The body loses it’s heat, and so the power to digest food is also lost. Exhalation of the breath is stronger than inhalation, and breathing becomes more difficult. The ability to smell is also lost.

The Four Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the compositional factors aggregate, the wisdom of achieving activities, the wind element, the tongue sense and taste.

Internal sign - flickering light, like a very small candle.

External sign - Breathing has stopped and all ability to move has been lost. Because the wind element has dissolved and therefore the breathing has stopped in the west most people are renounced dead at this point. But according to Buddhism death does not occur until the mind has left the body which is sometime after the 8th stage.

The Fifth Stage:

Gradual dissolution of the eighty indicative conceptions and the mind of White Appearance. As the mind of White Appearance becomes manifest a vision of pure white light is seen. It is said that at this point, the mind is empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of White Appearance.

As the mind of White Appearance loses it’s power, the Mind of Red Increase becomes manifest.

These appearances occur as the subtle energies of the subtle body (nervous system) are lost. or dissolve into one another.

The Sixth Stage:

The mind of Red Increase is a vision of redness, like a bright sunset in summer. At this point the mind is empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of Red Increase.

As the mind of Red Increase loses it’s power, the Mind of Black Near Attainment becomes manifest.

The Seventh Stage:

The mind of Black Near Attainment is a vision of complete darkness or blackness. At this point the mind of empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of Black Near Attainment.

As the mind of Black Near Attainment loses it’s power, the Clear light of death becomes manifest.

The Eight Stage:

Clear light of death is an experience of the pure radiance of the mind. This experience is of complete clarity and awareness, it is the most subtle aspect of the mind and is that which all phenomena manifest. A yogi can meditate on this mind for weeks.

The Actual point of death
One can still recognize if someone is alive at this point by whether or not there is any heat remaining at the point of the heart - the centre of the chest, not the physical heart. Once the mind leaves the body - the actual point of death - the heat at the heart will be lost.

Check you this post on Why do Buddhists meditate on death for more details on death and meditation.

Who was the Buddha?

The Buddha was a real person. He was born into a royal family in what would nowadays be southern Nepal. As it was the custom in those days, the Buddha’s father asked an astrologer to outline the baby boys future. After a quick observation of the baby, the astrologer announced that he would become either a universal monarch or a great spiritual leader.

Hearing this the Buddha’s father shielded his son from sick and dying people. If any of the palace staff got sick they were quickly removed from the young princes sight as the father did not want to arouse any spiritual aspirations in his young son.
As time went by, the young prince become more and more disillusioned with his circumstances, surely there is something more to life than just sport, food and sleep, he thought. So he began to sneak out of the palace at night to visit the townships surrounding the royal palace. This is when he first came across sick, dying and diseased people. Seeing their plight, the young prince was overcome with compassion. Finally he went to his father to tell him he was leaving the palace to find a freedom from the dissatisfactory events that condition our existence. So at the age of 29 he set off on a journey that would culminate in the development and finally the direct experience of infinite compassion and infinite wisdom - this we label as Enlightenment or Buddhahood - he was 35 by this time.

What the Buddha taught

The Buddha taught that all living beings have a natural disposition that seeks greater happiness and wishes to avoid even the slightest suffering. Not only that, he said that we also have the right to be happy. It is not selfish to want happiness. Unfortunately we sometimes employee erroneous methods, thinking that happiness will be found in things and events. More often than not these things and events become a cause of our unhappiness. The new car breaks down, the new hair-do never looks the same after leaving the salon.
Does that mean the Buddha said we shouldn’t have nice cars or get new hair cuts? No it doesn’t. It is how we relate to things and events that is the real problem not the thing themselves.

The greatest potential

Not only do we have this natural wish for more and more happiness, because of the very nature of our mind, we have the capacity to develop infinite compassion and infinite wisdom just like the Buddha did. He called this potential Buddha Nature. Because the basic or fundamental nature of the mind is not permanently clouded by conception it is possible to remove these dysfunctional states of mind.
Therefore every living being regardless of age or gender, all have the potential to become a Buddha. One could say that in essence the teachings of the Buddha show us, either directly or indirectly, how to replace dysfunctional states of mind with functional states of mind.

The process of transformation

The primary source of happiness and unhappiness is in fact our own mind. Therefore consciousness itself is the principal object of investigation for Buddhists. The principal tool used in this investigation is meditation and the Buddha has developed many techniques for refining and stabilizing consciousness. So, just as scientists use telescopes or microscopes to investigate the physical universe. Buddhists use meditation to investigate the inner world of the mind and to develop healthier, balanced and constructive states of mind - the real causes of happiness.
What are these dysfunctional minds? There are said to be six main types of minds that at face value appear to be useful but, at closer inspection are in fact the cause of many of our problems. The six are anger, attachment, ignorance, pride, doubt and holding opinions that take us away from happiness. A Buddha doesn’t suffer from any of these as they have replaced them with compassion and wisdom.

Dispelling misconceptions

Ok, let me ask you a question.

Question: Is non-attachment and detachment the same? Do they mean the same thing? I ask this because out of the six main minds anger, attachment etc, attachment is the most misunderstood.

My answer: I would say they are not the same. Detachment implies a factor of not caring about others. Whereas non-attachment does not imply this, it is simply an experience free from a mind that is clingy. Thus giving your mind space for unconditional friendliness and love - the wish for another to be happy without any feeling of gain or loss.

Spirit of enquiry

One of the things I love about Buddhism is it encourages the spirit of enquiry, much as science does. The Buddha said not to believe what he taught out of mere respect or through faith alone but, to experience the path for ourselves. Does that mean we can just make stuff up? No but, as with science, we are encouraged to experiment and see for ourselves if what he has said was true is true.

Some people, not only in western cultures, think that religion is about giving up free thought. They believe that being religious is about accepting a given set of instructions and bending your own ideas and believes to match the ideas of a given religion. Buddhism is not like this, in fact, it is the very opposite of that. It is youthful enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge and understanding that will yield the most of any field of study. Buddhism is no different. Conducting experiments using the Buddhist tool of meditation with a sense of discovery and openness is the key to progression along the path.

In a future post I would like to expand on the theme of enquiry as I feel it is something that is not discussed often.

Guided Meditation
Below is a guided meditation that I was first taught by one of my teachers Gen Loden Jampa (we have very similar names)

Breathing Meditation

Begin by settling the mind by focusing it on just the breath.

So we consciously relax away from our involvement in the worlds of the senses. The external world that dominates most of our waking experience.
The world of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tangible things. The phenomenal world, the material world, the external world.
Instead focus our inner awareness on a single object, the natural rising and falling of the breath.

Allow your awareness to settle, by simply observing the breath. As we breath naturally, watch the ebb and flow of the breath. As we observe the breath we let go of all other thoughts and concerns - all discursive thought. We release ourselves from the past, from thoughts of the past, thoughts of last year, last week, last day, last hour, last instant. Every thought dwelling in the past is a mere memory. We release ourselves from thoughts of the past and allow ourselves to be fully present, simply observing the breath.

And likewise, we release ourselves from thoughts of the future, thoughts of next year, plans of next week, of the next day, of the next instant. All thoughts into the future are mere speculation on what may come to be. We release ourselves from speculation, to be fully present, simply observing the breath.

Allow the mind to completely settle, to relax, as a silent witness watching the breath without discursive thought or comment.

Conventional Nature of Mind

As you watch the breath, have a sense that your awareness is like vast open space free of thought.
An unstructured bare awareness as vast as space, within which flows the movement of the breath - the object of observation. Within the vast space of your awareness, distracting thoughts, sounds or images arise and disappear within that space like a rainbow. A rainbow arises and disperses without ever disturbing space. In this way your mind becomes still. Distracting thoughts don’t carry your attention but arise and disappear without disturbing your space-like awareness.

Now notice that the object of concentration is the breath and that the subject is your still spacious awareness. A vast open awareness free of thought.
Now turn the object of concentration to the subject itself and simply observe the still, clear, spacious mind of bear awareness – the observing subject.

Now with a small part of your awareness analyze this bear awareness - this still consciousness, the unmoving unstructured mind. Does this still, clear, knowing mind have shape or color? Is it form? Is it matter, cells or physical substance? Does it have mass or resistance?

If we examine we find that consciousness itself - the clear knowing bear awareness - is not form, not shape, not color, not mass, nor does it have resistance.
It’s not cells or matter, it have no physical substances. It is simply clear and knowing.

Mind in Relation to Space and Time

And observe the clear knowing nature of mind in relation to space. Does the clear knowing mind have a boundary. Is it bounded by the body or brain? Is bounded by the room? Is there a point in space in which it cannot directly or indirectly know? So we can see that the mind is not bound by any limit of space – up, down or in any direction. It is simply clear and knowing. And again observe the clear knowing nature of mind in relation to time. Does it have a beginning – a point at which awareness started? Does it have an end – a point at which awareness ends? Is there a point in time that it cannot know either past or future? Is it bound by time? And we will see that unlike an individual thought, bear awareness itself has no beginning and no end. No point in time that it cannot know, no boundary within time. This bear awareness, this clear knowing nature of mind, is not bound by space and time.

And observe further and see that the clear knowing nature of mind is not anger – It is not in the nature of anger. It is not attachment. It’s not jealously, pride, anxiety, fear or doubt. It is no negative state. It is not by nature deluded, it is simply clear and knowing.

Ultimate Nature of Mind

And observe again this clear knowing nature of mind, the conventional nature of mind – the knower.
And look to its ultimate nature. Does it ultimately exist? Does it inherently, truly or naturally exists? Is it findable under ultimate analysis? Or is it emptiness of these things – of these modes of existence? And if we look at the clear knowing nature of mind, to find the truly existent clear knowing nature of mind, the inherently existent clear knowing nature of mind. When we look amongst its part – its past moments, its future moments or the present moment of awareness in this stream of consciousness. We see that an inherently existent clear knowing nature of mind is not found. It’s not found in its past moments or it would have ceased. It is not found in its future moments or consciousness would not have arisen. And if we look for the knower in this present moment, in the action of looking the present moment has gone!

This unfindability of the clear knowing nature of mind. The unfindability of the knower is the emptiness of mind – its ultimate mode of existence.
This emptiness is a mere absence, an absence of inherent existence, a permanent phenomena. Meditate on this emptiness single-pointedly.

Then be aware that as we observe emptiness, we in fact observe! That we know that the emptiness of the knower is not the absence of knowing, simply the absence of inherent existence. Then see again in a new light the clear knowing conventional nature of mind. Its conventional existence.

Negative and Positive States of Mind

Both positive and negative states of mind have such an impact of us both in a gross and subtle way, that I thought it best to explain these in their correlations – how they impact on each other.

Buddhism asserts that the person is the conventionally existent self. The sense we have when we say “I will this do”, “I am like this”, in my case I have an image of myself…”I am Clarke, the gentle and sensitive person” this is how I see myself and we all have our sense of self, sense of person. Strictly speaking the person is that which is imputed onto the 5 aggregates. What are the 5 aggregates? The 5 aggregates are simply a way of dividing body and mind.

The 5 Aggregates

1. Form: The form aggregate is the appearance of the body and the subtle appearance is more to do with the way you project yourself. Subtle form is included in the form aggregate and it is the way you appear of present to others.
2. Feeling: Feeling is divided in good, bad and natural feeling. There are graduations of feeling but, feelings can be categorized as either good, bad or natural.
3. Discrimination or Perception: Is the way that we label things, the way we classify and label things. This is Fred, this is Joe, this is good, this bad, this is mine, our labeling process. It is normally what we would call thinking.
4. Impulse: Is like the energy of mind, the emotional aspect of experience. It is the moving aspect of mind, it is how you are moved or impelled to act.
5. Consciousness: Consciousness can be divided into many different types but for us here today we will us positive and negative minds.

Generally we don’t think of anger as being a consciousness but being more of an emotion. But anger is also a consciousness, it is a way of knowing. So the way of knowing of anger is a distorted view, a distortion of things into unpleasant and threatening. The emotive aspect of anger is the emotion to lash out and harm someone. The feeling will be a bad feeling. The perception will be “this is my real enemy”. And the subtle form will project and have an influence of the gross form and you will end up looking like this…visual…A darkness will come over the face and so forth.

Similarly with the positive emotion for example loving-kindness you will have the consciousness of loving-kindness which is seeing the object in a favorable light. You will have the emotion of loving-kindness, the movement to caring, benefiting and bringing happiness. You will have the feeling of loving-kindness, the undeniably good feeling. You will have the perception of loving-kindness, may this person have happiness. And you will have the form of loving-kindness, which will be a pleasant, relaxed, open type of appearance.

So essentially the aggregates are the agents of experience of the person.

Below is a guided meditation to demonstrate in meditation the effects that anger and loving-kindness on these 5 aggregates.

Anger

Generate anger, let yourself get into an angry state of mind by observing someone who you finding supremely annoying. Someone who is difficult to communicate with, someone that you just don’t like! Then once that mind of anger has arisen, from a corner of your mind, observe the feeling of anger. Is it painful? Observe the impulse aggregate. That agitated impulse to lash out and harm either verbally or physically. Is that constructive? The labeling or perception of anger – this is my enemy! Is this truly valid? Would their mother feel the same? Observe the consciousness aggregate. How anger distorts your view making everything not just the so called enemy seem threatening. Then observe the form aggregate. How anger makes your body harsh, tense and agitated. Take the time to generate each of those states. You should spend at least 5 minutes on this or until you clearly see each point. The longer you can stay on this part the more affect the next section will have.

Now turn your attention to loving-kindness.

Loving-Kindness

Generate the mind of loving-kindness by remembering someone who is very dear to you. Someone who has shown you great kindness, who you care for deeply. Remembering that person, remembering their kindness and all that they mean to you, allow a mind of loving-kindness to develop. Remember the person to the point at which loving-kindness is generated, and then concentrate on just the mind of loving-kindness - moving your object of observation from the person to the mind of loving-kindness itself so that it completely fills your awareness. Then as you experience loving-kindness, look at the components of that experience – the aggregates. The easiest to see is the aggregate of feeling. The wonderful feeling of the mind of loving-kindness. The impulse aggregate of the mind of loving-kindness - the emotion or movement of friendliness. The movement to help not harm. Then the aggregate of discrimination of loving-kindness - the way of labeling or describing loving-kindness - the wish for another’s happiness. What we are feeling now is the experiencing of the wish for another’s happiness. Then observe the consciousness aggregate of loving-kindness - the way loving-kindness effects and influences our view of the world. Then the form aggregate in relation to loving-kindness. Some of you may even be able to identify to endorphins or at least a soft warm feeling through the body.

Then gently release your concentration and finish the meditation.

So it is importance of your meditation generally to understand the agents of experience – the 5 aggregates. Many people when they are told to meditate on loving-kindness by thinking “may all beings have happiness and all causes of happiness” think that thinking that is the meditation on loving-kindness. But, that is only one part of the meditation, the perception aspect of the meditation. Associated with that perception or thought is the good feeling, also the emotional aspect, and also the change to consciousness – the way we view the world around us. And of course the physical change by the release of little magically chemicals called endorphins at the courser level, and at the more subtle level your appearance also changes to something more pleasant. So when we are cultivating minds in meditation, we should cultivate them right through the agents of experience to deepen our experience.