Step number one is suffering.
Okay.
We all have that.
You may have never felt
good in your life, listener,
but you have suffered.
That's for sure.
That's the first noble truth of Buddhism.
There is suffering in this life.
Pay attention to your
suffering without fighting it.
Allow it to be there.
I did this meditation.
If something's physically
painful or emotionally painful,
I used to say, let go, let go to myself.
Didn't work.
So one day I said, all
right, you can stay.
Let it stay.
And so I do a let stay meditation.
If there's pain, let it stay.
If there's sorrow, let it stay.
And as soon as I let it
stay, it begins to change.
So, first step is suffering,
second step is compassionate
attention to one's suffering
with no resistance.
And the third step is
to follow the compassion
that is naturally being
directed toward that suffering
until you find yourself centered in it.
And that is a huge relief.
And I've done this in
massive physical pain.