Cattāri Brahmavihārā

It always amazes me the difference a night’s rest seems to make for me. A scant eight hours ago I was hopeless, irritated and anxious and could hardly bring myself to reflect on the state of the mind let alone practice and now it is as if none of that ever happened. Well, not quite.

This morning’s formal meditation proceeded in the standard way it has for some time with a touch more concentration than I have noted of late. Still, the one thing which kept coming up and strengthens my conv8ction in the efficacy of the practice was that whenever I found myself lost in the hindrances I remembered to bring up compassion for my suffering there at that moment. And the craziest part is that it worked: I let the pain and confusion in, engendered compassion for the suffering and moved back to the breath.
As hard as these weeks have been it’s clear that without difficulty there is no way to learn these things.