The first step of the 7-fold instruction is developing immeasurable equanimity, which we covered in the last two meditations. The next step to affirm this feeling of affectionate love is to recognize all beings as our mothers.
This may sound a bit strange (!?) but, consider this. It is impossible to find a beginning to our soul. We have all lived countless lives. So, we must have had countless mothers! Where are they all now? They are all the living beings around us today.
We can't really reason that our mothers of former lives are no longer our mothers now just because a long time has passed. Even if our mother of this life dies, we would still regard her as our mother and pray for her happiness. The same is true of all our previous mothers. They die, but they remain our mothers. Because they change in their external appearance, we do not recognize them.
Just like yesterday's meditation, we see so many people and regard some as friends, some as strangers some as enemies. But, they are alike in that in some of our previous lives, all these people were our friends and loved and cared for us. Because of the way we treated all these people, some of them now appear as attractive and some as unattractive, but, that is because of our past actions, it is not about them (they are empty!) So, rather than follow a mistaken mind, it is better to remember the kindness all people have shared with us at some point in our past.
If we regard all beings as our mothers we will find it easy to develop pure love and compassion in our everyday relationships. We will naturally avoid negatave actions.
When you remember all beings as your mother, you also remember their kindness. They carried you for nine months, went through labor pains for you, fed you, gave up years of their lives for you, they took care of your every little need until you could take care of yourself. Naturally, you want to repay their kindness. You want to take care of them too. You want to take away their pains and discomforts too. Remembering how much they did for you, you actually feel a personal responsibility to provide them with happiness and free them of any pain. Once you take that responsibility, you might realize that you actually don't have the ability to bring ultimate well-being to even one being, let alone all these beings who have been your mother. In order to truly help them in significant ways - to give them lasting bliss - you must achieve the highest states of yoga yourself. You must become omniscient and have a direct realization of ultimate truth.
Our desire to achieve enlightenment must be based on our interest in serving others as well as fulfilling our own interests. We are making our love for others real and our desire to help firm. By doing this we generate merit to experience ultimate truth.
The 7 steps are as follows:
1) Immeasurable Equanimity
2) Recognizing all sentient beings as our mothers
3) Recalling the kindness of all mother sentient beings
4) Developing the intention to repay their kindness
5) The loving-ness that regards all beings as dear
6) Compassion
7) Extraordinary intention
These 7 steps are causes which generate the result of enlightenment mind.
Meditation
Contemplate these points until you develop the conviction that all beings are our mothers and that you want to repay their kindness with ultimate wellbeing. Then meditate on this conviction single-pointedly to make it firm. Let this meditation result in you having 'enlightenment mind,' a prerequisite for the deepest teachings of yoga to open to you.
Dedication- Same as everyday.
Subsequent Practice: See all beings you interact with today as your mother in the countless lives you have lived. Think of their immeasurable kindnesses towards you. Feel a real affection for them and a desire to help them. Watch the seven steps unfold for you. Remember, it is okay if it seems strange to regard all beings as your mother. It took me months to get used to this idea and then one day when your mind is ready to go beyond time and space, a realization will occur. At the least, we are planting powerful seeds. Rejoice!
Thank you,
Love
Reema
This practice of viewing everyone we interact with as our mother is very powerful. I love and honor my own mother very much and talk to her every day even tho she is now passed. Imagining that everyone I encounter is as dear to me as she is takes my practice to the ultimate level of my understanding of loving others. Thinking that everyone I encounter now could have been my mother in another life is very profound indeed and something I would have not thought of on my own. Thank you Reema for sharing these practices with us. It has all been so helpful to me, and I feel my life changing already just from doing this meditation journey for these couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteDear Cecelia,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your meditation experience. Yes, this is so hard to expand our hearts at this level. It's easy to say...and we yogis are always talking about boundless love, but to really feel and act that way towards everyone is something entirely different and so tough! Thank you so much for joining us on this very difficult but profound journey. Please keep sharing! It helps us all!
Namaste,
Reema