As of August 15, 2024, we began an open-ended exploration and practice with the book Awakening Through Love, Unveiling Your Deepest Goodness, by John Makransky. Makransky is a Buddhist scholar and practitioner in the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. He invites us to discover our True Nature through a series of powerful meditations and practices of loving-kindness and compassion, both for ourselves and for our world.
From the introduction: “This book is aimed at two audiences: (1) people, no matter their religious affiliation, who seek fresh access to the heart of spirituality and clear, concrete ways to realize the power of love and compassion; (2) people long practiced in Buddhist traditions, who seek to reconnect with the simplicity of practice in a fresh way, to revitalize and deepen their continuing life in the Dharma.”
Also from the introduction: “The path to embodying unconditional love and wisdom is not some overwhelmingly difficult struggle to make ourselves into something alien to our nature. Quite the opposite. Unconditional love and wisdom dawn as we come home to what we most deeply are.”
From Chapter 3: “…the path to enlightenment is not a quest that issues in a solitary achievement. It is an intuitive awakening to one’s implicit relation to all others…Complete enlightenment manifests not just as a figure in private repose, but as a luminous embodiment of all-pervasive love, compassion, joy, and liberating activity…”
What does Makransky mean by “love?” As we begin, this is a good time to look again at the 4 Immeasurables, which Thich Nhat Hanh calls “True Love.” These are Loving-Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity. You will find a section “Practicing the Four Immeasurables” under “Reference Material” in the menu at the top of each page. You are invited to practice these, using the suggestions on that page.
JOHN MAKRANSKY’S MEDITATIONS
Here is a link to the page on the Sustainable Compassion website that has audio recordings of John Makransky leading his meditations: https://sustainablecompassion.org/audio/
Below are links to YouTubes of Ken narrating John Makransky’s meditations. If you are unfamiliar with them, it is strongly suggested that you familiarize yourself with his “Preparation” and “Processing” instructions for each meditation. (Even if you are familiar with them, it is worth reviewing these instructions frequently!)
FROM JOHN MAKRANSKY’S HANDOUTS
Receptive Mode
Meditation 1: Field of Care- youtu.be/R5PGqp_dLUE
Meditation 2: Becoming More Deeply Receptive to Love and Compassion- youtu.be/KIDAkVrYlNI
Meditation 3: Being a Loving Figure With Another Being-youtu.be/d1dIeCO0cJU
Deepening Mode
Meditation 4: Becoming Compassionately Present to Our Feelings- youtu.be/VPhssV4k8iQ
Meditation 5: Letting Be of Body Breath and Mind- youtu.be/bb5qRZOBAOE
Inclusive Mode
Meditation 6: Extending Love to Others- https://youtu.be/VmPRRe1ZLwM
Generating Empathy and Compassion for Action, Meditations 7, 8, and 9
Meditation 7: Taking Our Own Suffering Feelings Into Compassion For Others (I have included the Preparation section for this meditation in the recording.) https://youtu.be/1Q7vB_qBzTQ
Meditations 8 and 9 not yet recorded.
Applying SCT to Social and Ecological Activism, meditation 10, not yet recorded.
FROM AWAKENING THROUGH LOVE, by John Makransky
Meditation from Chapter 4: “Self-Transcending Love” https://youtu.be/1BtNjhhem8w
opencirclemindfulness.org 