As our practice progresses, attention becomes more stable by using the sensations of the breath, and mindfulness increases with our positive feedback and intention to keep peripheral awareness open.
With the elimination of mind wandering and very little forgetting, we start to enter the territory of Stage IV, Continuous Attention. One thing which may happen around this stage is the arising of old conditioning, including emotional material. This purification is necessary, but can also be challenging.
While the stability of attention and mindfulness can help to hold these purifications, the specific practices of loving kindness and compassion are useful in providing a welcoming space for any material which arises. This is part of the Buddha’s eightfold path; Skillful Effort.
According to Culadasa, the same techniques which are used for awareness of body and breath can be used for these meditations.
Preparation for Practice
First, find a comfortable posture, close or lower your eyes, feel your body sitting, and relax. Spend some time feeling pleasant body sensations. Start by bringing to mind benefactor(s), somebody who you feel good about, and who has shown kindness to you. Visualize them sending you love and acceptance. Practice the Six Point Preparation for Meditation: Motivation, Goals/Intentions, Expectations, Diligence, Distractions, and Posture.
The specific intentions for this particular practice are to continue to return attention to the phrases or visualization, and to specifically practice positive feedback both for mindfulness/ introspective awareness, and for the arising of kindness and compassion. Also, keep peripheral awareness open, including any pleasant physical sensations around the heart area.
Next, do the Four-Step Transition, gradually restricting the natural movements of your attention. Practice positive feedback for the arising of mindfulness (introspective awareness) – moments when you wake up to the fact of mind wandering. “Nice to be present again!” Practice compassion for any judgments or desires for things to be going other than the way they are.
Step One: Focus on the Present: Allow your attention to tune into and range freely among any of the sounds, bodily sensations, smells, or thoughts you may experience.
Step Two: Focus on Bodily Sensations: With your attention limited to bodily sensations, let everything else slip into the background of peripheral awareness.
Step Three: Bring awareness to the body sensations around the area of the heart, which can include sensations of the breath.
Step Four: Place your attention on your benefactor visualization (or loving kindness phrases) while keeping peripheral awareness open to everything else, including body sensations/ breath.
Bring to mind benefactor(s), and visualize them sending you love and acceptance. Notice any specific body sensations or emotions that arise with this visualization, and notice the pleasantness. Stay with the visualization as long as you wish, and repeat it when the practice starts to feel dry.
Next, choose a very simple Metta phrase, such as “May You Be Peaceful and Well”. Repeat this as an intentional practice, feeling an offering from your heart to all beings.
If any challenging emotions arise, see if awareness can provide space for them while continuing the phrases. If they strongly draw attention, drop the phrases and make the emotions the object of attention. Feel the emotion’s body sensations, while holding everything with a sense of compassion. Then, return to the benefactor visualization followed by the loving kindness phrases.
