Barry Graham: Illusory Flowers in an Empty Sky

A Zen student told me that in her meditation she tries to observe whatever thoughts or feelings arise “with kind attention.”

I suggested that this was just one more tyranny she was imposing on herself - instead of noticing what comes up, she was adding a condition, that the attention must be “kind.” That isn’t a real feeling of kindness, but rather a story about how she should feel and a rejection of the actuality of her life and her moment.

What if you observe arising thoughts and feelings without adding anything to them, without judging them, without trying to feel kind or unkind? The name for that activity might be “compassion.”