--- ai_generation_date: '2026-08-29' ai_model: gemini-3-pro-preview audiodharma: talks: - date: '2020-12-16' mp3_url: https://audiodharma.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/talks/12583/20201216-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-guided_meditation_non_resistance_to_suffering.mp3 speakers: - speaker_name: Gil Fronsdal speaker_url: https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/1 talk_start_time_seconds: 0 title: 'Guided Meditation: Non-Resistance to Suffering' url: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/12583 video_unavailable: false location_city: Redwood City, CA video_unavailable: false youtube: id: lN7BX14FLNY imprecise_upload_date: '2021-05-04' title: 'Guided Meditation: Non-Resistance to Suffering' upload_date: null uploader_str: Insight Meditation Center uploader_url: https://www.youtube.com/@InsightMeditationCenter youtube_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN7BX14FLNY --- # Guided Meditation: Non-Resistance to Suffering - [Gil Fronsdal](https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/1) _This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers._ ## [Guided Meditation: Non-Resistance to Suffering](https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/12583) A warm hello from Redwood City, and I am happy to be here. As we begin, the theme of this week is compassion. Compassion is one of the great ideals that people try to live up to, but sometimes it's more useful to focus not on the ideal, but on what gets in the way of the ideal. There's a number of reasons for this. One is that if we try to live the ideal while there's something blocking it, mostly the ideal remains just the _idea_ of the ideal. It's a little bit surfacy, or not really deeply rooted inside of us. Also, if we're operating without really understanding what's blocking an ideal, but we're still acting it out, we don't really understand ourselves very well. We can do all kinds of mischief if we don't understand what's going on inside of us. Finally, while any ideal might be seen as being great, it's not always the best response. If we can remove what blocks or gets in the way of the ideal inside of us, we might discover that without that blockage, there's actually something else—some other wholesome movement that wants to come out, something else that seems appropriate. Compassion has a lot to do with how we are in the presence of suffering, both our own suffering and the suffering of others. One of the things that blocks _karuṇā_[^1]—this compassion that Buddhism focuses on—is resistance to suffering. This means resistance to experiencing and feeling it, or contraction and closing down in relationship to it. In mindfulness practice, we want to be very aware of how we resist, how we close down, contract, or get involved in attacking or pushing away our own suffering or any suffering that we are aware of. What is it like to experience your suffering, however small it might be, without any resistance, but also without any solid, hard place inside that receives it and picks it up? What resists suffering can often be ways in which we hold onto other ideals, ideas about who we are, how we should be, or our memories of the past. Suffering is difficult for sure, but mindfulness practice is a practice of learning to be wise with suffering. It is a learning over time—it's very important to understand it's over time—so we can be caring and careful with our suffering. Over time, we learn how to have no resistance to it, and in that way, to not be struggling with it, not be defensive to it, and not be the victim of it. We certainly feel it, but in a sense, it doesn't limit or diminish us. It's like we're a wide open field, a wide open space in which suffering has room to be there as well, but we're not troubled by it so much. ## Guided Meditation As we sit for this meditation, from time to time you might find that there is some suffering, some _dukkha_[^2]—something which is stressful or difficult for you. You might spend some time exploring the resistance you have to it, the blockage, or the contraction, and what it might be like to open and have no resistance. You can find some degree of spaciousness and freedom with the presence of suffering. So, take a comfortable, upright meditation posture. Upright can be metaphorical depending on your needs, sitting in the way that's right for you, but with your heart and mind upright and present. Gently close your eyes. As you're sitting here now, is there already some resistance to something? Is there some blockage, some holding back, a sense of bracing yourself or pulling back? If there is, that itself is the suffering. Can you be aware of the resistance without resistance? Can you be aware of contraction or pulling back without pulling back from that? Maybe quite gently, take a slow, long, deep in-breath, and gently, slowly, a long exhale. Breathing in deeply, and then letting go with the exhale. Breathing in slow, deep, and full, as something which is gentling or tender—kindly moving through your body. A slow, long exhale, as a kind exhale, a soft movement, a caring movement within the torso. Then, let your breathing return to normal. As you exhale, soften the muscles of the face. The muscles do not need to be held close to the skull; they can ease away. Relax the shoulders. The shoulders do not need to be pulled up towards the ears; they can relax down towards the ground. Relax in the heart area, in the chest, and maybe even the back ribcage can soften. Then, relax the belly and breathe naturally, normally. For a little bit, attend to the rhythm of your breathing through the cycle of breathing in and breathing out, and how it's experienced in the body—the physical sensations. As you're sitting here, is there any form of emotional discomfort, any form of suffering or stress that you might feel, or any physical pain or discomfort? If so, how are you relating to it? How are you with it? Is there any resistance, or is there an openness, even a willingness to let it be there? This is not so you can suffer better, but so that you don't make it worse with resistance and contraction. If you do feel anything that could be suffering, see if you can breathe through it. Or, if there's a resistance, breathe through the resistance. Don't struggle with the resistance; don't resist resistance. Hold it in awareness. Breathe in awareness with it, as if becoming aware of it carefully is the only thing you need to do. Know it intimately. If your discomfort, your _dukkha_, is not too strong, experiment with opening up to receive it in the way that you would receive a refreshing breeze on a warm day. Just open. Or the way that the air receives the wind. The way the dry ground receives a raindrop. The way your pillow receives your head. Experiment with letting go of resistance and just being with it, as if your _dukkha_ has permission to be there and that you will receive it. And if that's not possible, then be aware of the resistance. Breathe with it, feel it. As you exhale, also let go of your thinking. The more you think, the less it's possible to be receptive and open to _dukkha_[^3]. If you're able to not resist suffering, to really allow yourself to feel it freely and openly, perhaps it touches something wholesome within you. Perhaps it can allow for something inside of you to expand instead of contract, something inside of you to open instead of closing. Allow something inside of you to become more tender, soft, and sweet, instead of hard, challenged, and maybe even bitter. The point is not to be without resistance for its own sake, but to be without resistance to suffering so that the suffering can touch something much more deep inside. Something wise and caring, a place of tenderness or softness, someplace that feels intimate and valuable. ## Reflections As we come to the end of this sitting, turn your heart towards this world around you—perhaps to the suffering, both the small and the immense suffering in our world. What is it like to open up to it without any resistance? As if there's a deep place inside, a place of wisdom, of care, of compassion, that's worth feeling. Have it be present for the suffering of the world without resistance. It is almost as if you're a one-room house with two doors, one in the front and one in the back. The suffering of the world comes in—clearly comes in—but it blows out the other end, the back door. This is not to dismiss it, but once you receive the message, it doesn't have to linger. The wind might keep coming, but there's no blockage for it. Then, end this sitting by actively having thoughts of wishing, hoping, and wanting the suffering of the world to decrease, to be alleviated, to come to an end. Think happily about how wonderful that would be. Think about how wonderful the end of suffering would be. If others just knew that you had this wish, it would benefit them. Just knowing that there are good people who care and are concerned about suffering and the end of it is itself medicine for this world. Maybe you can also consider how you might act on compassion today. Are there small acts of compassionate care that you can offer to those local and those far away? Compassion grows when we act on it. May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings be free of oppression. May all beings be free of hostility. May all beings be free of danger. May all beings be safe. And may all beings live in peace and freedom. May all beings be free. --- [^1]: **Karuṇā:** A Pali word frequently translated as "compassion." It is one of the four sublime attitudes (brahma-viharas) in Buddhism. [^2]: **Dukkha:** A Pali word often translated as "suffering," "stress," or "unsatisfactoriness." [^3]: Original transcript said "to do calm", corrected to "to _dukkha_" based on context.