On the third full day of the Bristol Rains Retreat Vajradevi continued the exploration of mindfulness with a talk on working with thinking, followed by a sitting meditation  in which we became aware of 'thoughts as thoughts' by the practice of gently 'labelling' what arose.  After tea, a led walking meditation provided the opportunity to carry that 'thread of mindfulness' from sitting into walking; this was followed by the exploration of 'mood' as a major conditioning factor of our experience - like a mist that can be dissipated over time by the gentle sunlight of clear-seeing.

The afternoon session saw us in pairs (and one threesome) practising 'talking meditation' - something new to most of us, tho' slightly reminiscent of the 'communication exercises' which we rarely do in the movement these days.

In the evening we performed Vessantara's 'Midnight Star' Tara puja, with a beautiful Tara shrine, making offerings of our anxieties and fears so that they might be transformed into viriya.  The puja reading was Karaniya Metta Sutta.

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Mindfulness + Working with Mood + Walking Meditation

Working Mindfully with Communication & Language

Midnight Star Puja to Tara with Karaniya Metta Sutta Reading

Listen to the whole series on Free Buddhist Audio