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Guided Meditation: Ease

Good morning, everyone. Good day. In preparation for this meditation session, and as part of the theme of the week: dukkha^[1].

The word dukkha, often translated into English as "suffering," has an opposite, which is sukha^[2]. Sukha is often translated in the context of suffering as "happiness." Another possibility for sukha is the word "ease." The opposite of ease would be "dis-ease" or being ill at ease. So what Buddhism is looking to overcome is this dis-ease—all the different kinds of dis-ease that we can have: psychological, spiritual, and emotional—in order to have ease in our life.

That's a little bit of a different orientation than happiness. The quest for happiness sometimes is overdone and somehow prioritizes a constant cheerful demeanor or way of being. But ease is something that we can carry with us in all kinds of circumstances, even ones that are quite challenging, difficult, and maybe even very serious. In situations that don't evoke a natural or usual sense of happiness, the idea is ease, and to meditate with ease.

One of the simplest meditation instructions is this: sit quietly, put yourself at ease, and then notice whatever takes you away from the ease. And that's it. Put yourself in whatever sense of ease is accessible, and then notice what takes you from that. That is mindfulness. You see what happens. If that clear recognition is all there is—"Oh, I'm now ill at ease," or "Now I've lost my ease"—then maybe you can return to it.

Take a posture that is your meditation posture, maybe a posture that allows you to sit with some modicum of ease. Where being too comfortable, oddly enough, doesn't allow for the body to settle into the deepest places of ease within. To really settle deeply generally requires a conscious posture that's assumed and maintains some kind of conscious presence, so we don't completely forget about the posture. We put some kind of intentionality—relaxed, easy intentionality—that provides a kind of balance, a reference point, or a pillar for our practice.

Guided Practice

And gently close your eyes.

Perhaps as you exhale, can you put your body at ease? Let yourself be at ease with how things are in your body. There might be things that are challenging and painful physically; can you allow yourself some sense of ease with that? One way to do that is to ease up. Be easy with it. Easing up on the body, settling into the body, relaxing with the body, so there is more of a sense of ease.

Perhaps you can set yourself at ease in your heart. Be easy with whatever you're feeling, whatever emotions are here. Some of them might not be easy, some of them might be difficult. So then go easy with them. Maybe there's an easing up, a lightening up. Let yourself be easy with what you're feeling inside. Easy with your heart.

If possible, set yourself at ease in your mind. Not with ambition, but rather in simple ways. As you exhale, let there be some ease mentally. Perhaps easing up on the challenges you might have mentally. Easing up, being easy with them.

Then, becoming aware of your breathing. Aware of your body breathing, and allow yourself to ease up on breathing. Be easy with whatever way your body is breathing. Even if it's difficult or it doesn't quite feel comfortable, be easy with that. Easing up, be at ease with your breathing. Perhaps with a release, relaxing as you exhale.

Wherever there's some sense of ease for you, even if it's quite small. Wherever there's ease in your body, your mind, your heart, perhaps that can be the place from which you're aware. That can be the atmosphere, the mood for how you're mindful. Mindful in an easy way. Relaxed, open, allowing. Breathing in, and breathing out.

As you continue practicing this morning, from the reference point of whatever ease—even if it's very little—the reference point of whatever calm you have, notice when you lose it. Notice what takes you away from it. When you notice that you're losing your ease, you're tensing up^[3], you move away from it. Then, as easefully, relaxedly, and honestly as you can be mindful, be aware of what just happened. See if there can be any easy mindfulness, mindfulness with ease for what takes you away from your ease.

So that you're either meditating close to your ease, or you're relaxedly being aware, honestly aware of what takes you away from your ease. Both ways are a good way to meditate.

If you notice yourself feeling at ease, and then you notice that something takes you away from that ease, you could ask yourself: Is what I'm concerned with more important than sitting here at ease, breathing at ease?

The primary ease for practice is a sense of ease with what the mind is concerned with. Whatever the mind is attending to, is aware of, let that attention be an attention of ease. Being at ease with what one knows, even if what one knows is difficult. Stay close to your ease.

Closing Reflections

And then coming to the end of this sitting, in whatever way that you can that's easy for you.

Tap into your understanding, your feeling, your memory, your felt sense of being at ease. Maybe there's some time in your life where you can remember that you really felt at ease in some deep, wonderful way. At ease with other people, at ease with yourself, at ease with the world. A kind of peacefulness, or contentment, or even a sense of grace.

With that, maybe you've tapped into a little bit of it here this morning. Consider how you can use the sense of ease as a reference point for the people you are with today. The people you talk to today, the people that you learn about, read about, or reflect on. May you wish for them that they can have ease. Can they go through their lives with ease? Can they be at ease with their challenges and difficulties?

To whatever degree that you are able to, can you support their ease? Can you talk and act in ways, think in ways, that can support greater ease for others?

So that all beings may be at ease. So that all beings may have a day that's a little bit easier because of what you can contribute. May all beings be at ease.