excellent sound coming through to South London!

morning. It’s lovely and clear!

morning from Dublin

good morning from Ireland

sound can dip during meditation 🧘🏽‍♂️ x

good morning. sorry for being late. Problems launching zoom this morning!

good morning from clapham south!

Morning x

morning from kilcoole/dublin

morning from Rome. Thanks for this.

morning from Bexhill-on-Sea

Good morning everyone!

good morning from Dorset

Hello from hackney

yes I had a difficulty with sound during the practice.

Good morning everyone (from Manchester)

A very good morning from Mottingham 🙏

Good Morning everyone!

hello from hackney

Good morning, everyone, from Peckham, London

Morning all, from Dublin

The sound is much clearer. The problem yesterday, with respect, was that the volume was very low during the poem and the guidance during the meditation.

I am still waiting for that state of mind….

morning everyone let the journey continue

Please can people not chat it pops up

Comment: I have the sound turned up as far as it will go. When reading the poem I could hear what you were saying. When saying things during meditation I have to strain to hear - and mostly the words are indistinct.Struggling to hear what I'm being reminded/asked to do :/

I have the ame problem

I can't hear!!!!!

thankyou Maitreybandhu, Sam, everyone, Metta

Thank you

Thanks everyone :)

that was lovely, thank you

Thanks, Sam & Maitreyabandhu. HAve a good day all.

thank you to everyone.

Thank you

thanks so much

Thank you all

Thank you

Thank you.

Thank you!

Thank you!!

Thank you

thank you

Thank you:)

Thank you :)

thank you

Thank you.

Thank you....have to scoot. go well all

Thanks Maitreyabandhu and Sam - great to be meditating with you

Thank you very much!

Thank you, I am really enjoying letting go of the formal structure of my normal meditation

thank you!

Thank you all, have a good day everyone

thank you

gratitude

Thank you, have a good day

Thank you! :-)

thank you

Lovely, thank you.

Thank you . I found that poem so powerful and moving. What was its title please

Thank you so much

Thank you :)

Thanks so much everyone. The poem was heartbreakingly beautiful!

Thank you

Thank you :) Love the approach

that was great, thank you Maitreyabandhu and Sam :)

Thank you, really enjoy that there are no stages!

Thank you Maitreybandhu and LBC - wishing all an easeful day.

thank you, thank you 🙏

https://londonbuddhistcentre.com/donate-now/

thank you

thank you so much

May we be sent these beautiful poems please?

beautiful! thank you

thank you very much!

thank you! sound was much better :-)

after you read the poem a beautiful stillness descended on my mind... for a moment anyway! wonderful

Thank you very much.

Thank you:)

Thankyou lovely start to the day 💕

QUESTION: - please explain the poem a little more ?

Thank you

thanks for providing the opportunity to meditate together ❤️

Can thank you what was the name of the poem. I was not aware of time this is the first time for me.

Lovely thanks

Thank you very much! I really enjoyed that :) Have to leave for work I'm afraid.

Thank you so much, and good day to everyone

Maitreyabandhu what can one do with excess anger to the point of feeling homicidal? Do you just return to the breath and the body? Thich Nhat Hanh says to put your anger in a cradle and rock it like a baby - lovely but not easy! Clare

Q will these sessions be on a catch up? Id like to re listen to the teaching….Many thanks indeed

Thank you🙏🏿

Thank you so much! :-)

Thanks You Everyone. Can you please mention who wrote the poem, as I love broadening my poetry appreciation

Do pop questions in here, and put a ‘Q’ in front of them, thank you!

thank you!, have a good day <3

Beautiful Peace.Thank you.

Thank you

thank you so much

thanks so much!

Wonderful thankyou love x

wonderful. thanks 🙏

thank you, have a lovely day!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Q I tend to still think of my empty mind when concentrating on breathing is that ok?

Thank you 🙏🏼

So many thanks :)))

Thank you!

🙏

thank you have a lovely day !

Q

thank you, the 'spoonful of pudding' reference came in handy! :-)

Thank you the sound was great today :-)

thanks

thank you it was lovely -

Question: could you say a bit more about how to break the habit of walking out on ourselves?

I was struggling with twitching all over my body when I meditate, but as I widened my awareness today it became a dance with my breath and the sounds around me, it became beautiful

Thank you and see you tomorrow! I liked the poem

Q. how can we work with craving deep experience? Seems to me it just pushes it further away!

thank you so much !

Q how do you relax if you find yourself forcing the breath?

Thank you. Lovely start to the day!

name of poet and poem please xx

when one gets a “dead leg”, do you just breath through it? or can you rearrange said leg?

thanks 🙏 great poem

Bless you Maitreyabandhu, I will carry the beautiful poem with me today. .

Thank you very much, the poem was very moving -Thomas Hardy.

Thank you very much 👍

I see these are recorded. May we have recording of your preamble please?

Thank you. Have a good day. Great Poem xxx

Thank you...perfect start to the day x

Thank you so much for this morning

When you say thinking of pleasurable things might me you need more pleasure in your experience, how would you relate that to unpleasant thoughts while sitting?

QUESTION: - please explain the poem a little more ? Talks about the blessings but then we are looking away?

Thank you Maitreyabandhu, Sanjay and Sam

thank you, lovely.

Thank you. Such a lovely session.

thank you for the poem - and the pudding!

I went to goldsmiths :)

Thank-you for opening the day…

Thank you LBC team

Ahh I went to goldsmiths :)

Q: I know it may be off the brief for this week , but is there a video of the drop of dew on blade of grass meditation that you once did and I found amazing. :)

thank you, much appreciated,

Thank you Maitreyabandhu and Sam. I am so so grateful to you and the lbc. Thank you for a wonderful morning meditation <3

Thank you for helping me to start the day

Q I sometimes over exaggerate my breath on these more open meditations. Any advice for managing this?

Thank you

Thank you 😊

Please can the volume be higher in future? I had my input audio on full and sadly still missed the quieter bits. I know this was a wonderful meditation and I/m really sad that I coiuldn't hear it all.

Q - if mind wandering to films/ things we have watched ( a lot of tv watching recently! - do we really need to add meaning to this/ or is the mind just going there because that is what we have been doing?

I have looked up the definition of empathy, but I was wondering if u might be able to say a bit more about how to deletion it.

What was the poem, please?

Q: I’ve braces fixed yesterday, since then my mood have changed. I’m negative, feeling the uncomfortable external body in my body. I was very distracted in my meditation. how can I cultivate positive emotions around it?

do you still have the paintings?

Thank you very much.

*develop

Thank you wonderful start to my day

I was working last night. Can we get a recording of Garavavati’s talk please 🙏

Thank you very much for you and your teams time and effort. Unfortunately, it is still very difficult to hear you - it’s like you move into a whisper the more you move into guiding the meditation and it becomes increasingly difficult to hear you and and ends up distracting from trying to attend to the breath. Sorry, I don’t mean to be critical. I will try earphones tomorrow and see if that helps … We’re in this together!

Q: I always seem to be aware of everything (the noises the enivrionment) even when focusing on breath. Will this change over time?

I meditate sometimes with my headset on and the sound is always much better. If you have a headset its worth a try

Thank you so much!

Thank you Laura C, I will try that tomorrow

Q. one of the irritating things I do is count my breaths. I go on for ages. but I’m also thinking of other stuff. so I’ve got two strands of thoughts.

I wear a headset, and there is still a problem with sound. You become very indistinct as you go deeper into the meditation.

Thank you!

I had a door slam in the flat beneath me early on and I'm near my fridge which persistently buzzes and whirs for longer periods. How do I let a frustration go, or cope with a persistent buzz, I long for that sense of calm of it stopping that you opened with!

Thank you very much and thank you for buying the new mic : )

This is all so helpful. Thank you

lol Boris

I got my days mixed up and thought this started yesterday (but started today!). Can I catch up with the other days?

The sound was perfect on my end though I’m just using a laptop - interesting that it’s impacting some people but not others

The sound was great here x

Q: could you say something about the possible pitfalls of trying to cultivate a feeling/state of mind and it feeling false or unnatural? I am thinking of the dangers of a kind of sentimentalism to oneself in faking it till you make it, when meditation often brings a realisation there is a lot more agitation and ill-will towards myself and others than I ever would have liked to admit was really there. How do we encourage metta, empathy without falling into falseness or emotional dishonesty? Thank you so much for the meditation and for your time, all!

I had to turn the sound up when the meditation started but then it was absolutely fine

Any tips on how to reduce fear and uncomfortable emotions in meditation?

Q: recently i'm having the problem of getting excited/distracted when I feel like i'm getting somewhere with the meditation and sort of pulling myself out of it because of that. what would you advise?

Thank you for your comments on staying with ourselves. I am glad that I have stayed here until the end, desp[te the external blockages!

Thank you very much.

Thank you for today. See u tomorrow all

Thank you. 😊

thanks. see you all tomorrow.

Thank you everyone. And to Danayutta for her video on meditation posture. A helpful refresher for practising at home.

thanks youuu.

Can you please send the name of the poem again? Thank you.

Thank you, have a good day everyone

Thanks again, until tomorrow

The Self Unseen by Thomas Hardy

Thank you so much.

thank you brilliant response

Meditation can be purifying, releasing for example, pent up sadness. Is that good?

such accessible wisdom! I miss Maitreyabandhu

that was so helpful, thank you x

Could someone remind me of yesterdays poem please?

thank you Thank you Maitreyabandhu, Sanjay and Sam. see you tomorrow.

so helpful!

Thank you for the meditation and these really interesting reflections.

great question, same theme here!

Thank you, and have a brilliant day all xx

thank you.

Derek Mahon - The Dawn Chorus

Thank you!

Thank you Ceinwen

Thank you Maitreyabandhu I’m getting so much from these sessions. Love your care to detail

Yes, I agree with Rachael :)

Wonderful sessions and chat! As always…. :) THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Thank you so much, I'll see u all tomorrow

Thank you. x

thank you both! metta

see you tomorrow

Thank ypu

Thanks so much

Thank you so much!

Thank you really insightful session 🙏🏻see you tomorrow

so helpful! thank you

Discussion off pleasure and play tomorrow would be valuable

Thank you

Thank you!

Thank you very much !

Thanks so much :)

Thank you

Thank you very much

thank u 🙏🏼 ☺️

Thank you very much, very helpful

Thank you, a small word for the benefit

Thanks so much

thank you very much

Thanks so much Maitrebandhu!!

thank you so much!

thankyou

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

really great session thank you

Thankyou so much , see you tomorrow

Thank you very much.

Very helpful and insightful. Thanks

Thank you 🙏

Thank you.

Thank you!

thank you

thank you xx