The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

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Welcome back.

I'm happy to be back again, continuing this series, I'm freeing the thinking mind.

So in my own practice, over the years, sometimes it felt the need to gladden my mind and

heart, inspire myself. So during different periods of my practice,

I begin the first several minutes of my meditation

with some form of bringing inspiration to my sitting.

An example, it's something I used for quite a while,

was imagining an honored guest coming over to my mind,

sometimes the Dalai Lama, sometimes the Buddha.

How would I be if they were visiting my mind?

You know, I'd be really welcoming.

I'd clean up my environment.

I'd pay really careful attention to everything they said.

So the idea is, is that can we treat ourselves as our honored guests?

And other times, I begin my sittings with, you know, five, ten minutes of loving

kindness phrases, a simple version of meta towards myself and all beings.

May I be happy, may I be peaceful, may I feel safe, may I be free.

And then may all beings be happy, peaceful, feel safe, be free.

And so I still like to begin my sittings with just a little bit of a warming of the heart in some way that touches me.

So let's begin this sitting with another version of gladdening our hearts and minds.

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