The session begins with a period of grounding meditation. Once that is finished, Bodhipaksa outlines the theme of the treat, which is the Brahma viharas and hints at some slightly different approaches that we might not be used to.

The session then continues into a period of meta bhavana practice, the cultivation of loving kindness.

The session concludes with questions and answers.

Session 2 centers on “soft eyes” and “kind eyes” as ways of widening attention and making metta practical, with Bodhipakṣa crediting Jan Chozen Bays’s How to Train a Wild Elephant for “loving eyes.” He reframes metta as everyday kindness grounded in empathy, draws on the Dhammapada and a line from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, unpacks “sentient” as “feeling,” and names why the first stage of metta bhāvanā is hard; then he shifts to second-person phrasing—“May you be well, may you be at ease, may you be kind to yourself and others”—and natural self-talk. A guided self-empathy sit follows (soft/kind eyes, hand on heart, a half-smile), with a brief story about low mood easing after speaking to a doctor, and reflections on anattā (“there is suffering,” not a sufferer), Shantideva’s warning about how we chase pain and ruin joy, and his own This Difficult Thing of Being Human alongside observations from his Insight Timer metta recordings.

We then extend the same empathic regard to another person—friend, stranger, or difficult figure—recognising their joys and pains as vivid as our own, and close by carrying the practice into daily life: keep soft/kind eyes and remember each passerby as a feeling being doing the difficult thing of being human.

The session begins with a period of grounding meditation. Once that is finished, Bodhipaksa makes a few remarks about compassion, the second of the Brahma viharas. Emphasising how we might have some wrong ideas about exactly what compassion is.

There are breakout groups at just over the halfway mark

The session then continues into a period of meta bhavana practice, the cultivation of loving kindness.

The session opens with a brief silent “arriving” sit guided by the cues “soft eyes, kind eyes, open field of attention, meeting everything with kindness,” then moves into a teaching that compassion is a supportive response to suffering. Bodhipakṣa situates this in the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths—suffering is to be known—and broadens it from obvious tragedies to everyday hurts like boredom, resentment, and not getting what we want. He models pausing to note “this is a moment of suffering,” soothing the body, and responding non-reactively, which frees empathy for others. Examples include partners’ bad moods and kids dragging their feet, with practical checks for hunger and tiredness.

We then practice “meditation as rehearsal”: bringing to mind a real trigger (tone of voice, mess, interruptions), noticing unpleasant vedanā in the body, receiving it with warmth, and imagining a wiser response. The teaching threads through classic sources—vedanā in the Satipaṭṭhāna, the five skandhas, and the twelve nidānas (contact → feeling → craving/aversion)—plus the Buddha’s line that “everything converges on feeling,” a Rilke note that the terrifying is a helpless thing needing help, and a nod to the vagus nerve as a bodily pathway for feeling. The session closes with a short two-stage karuṇā-bhāvanā using phrases like “May I be free from suffering, may I be at peace,” first for oneself and then for another at a manageable intensity.

The session begins with a period of settling meditation, cultivating appreciative attention to gaps between thoughts and the body’s subtle aliveness.

The teaching then reframes mudita as rejoicing in the causes of happiness—recognizing and encouraging skillful qualities—rather than simply feeling happy when others are happy.

Along the way, the session references the Jain counterpart pramoda (“joy at the sight of the virtuous”), Upatissa’s Vimuttimagga (Path of Liberation)—shared via a Padlet link as a PDF—and Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga, noting how commentarial traditions inform (and sometimes distort) practice. The near/far enemies (especially arati, joylessness) and the community practice of “rejoicing in merit” are introduced.

Participants move into brief breakout groups to connect, then return for a guided gratitude sweep: appreciating shelter, electricity, clean hot/cold water, internet, windows and doors, furniture and books, everyday appliances, plumbing and infrastructure, and finally the body’s faithful work (hands, feet, lungs, heart, senses). We close by carrying this appreciative tone into the rest of the day.

Bodhipakṣa frames the session around gratitude and muditā, proposing a daily five-item gratitude journal “held in the heart” and intensified by imagining absence, and he notes his online meditation community’s gratitude section as a resource. He cites evolutionary psychology’s “negativity bias,” gives the Pāli spelling arati (noting it as Māra’s daughter), and quotes the Buddha on “a person of integrity” who is grateful and on abandoning the unskillful because it leads to benefit and pleasure—introducing the technical language of kusala/akusala over moralistic good/bad.

He then leads two brief meditations: first with the cue “soft eyes, kind eyes” to notice and appreciate the natural ending of thoughts, and second, “The mind knows its own way home,” to recognize that mindfulness returns by itself and to feel gratitude for that inner ally. Participants go to breakout groups to name and slowly share three things they appreciate while imaginatively stepping into each other’s experiences, and the session closes with a preview of a full five-stage muditā bhāvanā practice in the next meeting.

Bodhipakṣa leads a long, light-touch breath meditation using “soft eyes, kind eyes” to open whole-field awareness, invite sensations of aliveness, and let intrusive thoughts become mindfulness cues; discomfort is met with warmth and reassurance while he guides an inquiry into impermanence until he notes that the sit naturally includes all four brahmavihāras. He then teaches on upekkhā’s meaning as “looking closely,” distinguishes ordinary and profound equanimity with references to the Nirāmisa Sutta, and shows how the brahmavihāra form restores balance by seeing the equality of beings.

He posts three upekkhā phrases in the chat—“May you accept the arising and passing of things; May you abide in equanimity, free from attachment or aversion; May you know the deep peace of awakening”—and leads a five-stage upekkhā bhāvanā adapted from Upatissa’s Vimuttimagga (adding a self stage): self, neutral person, difficult person, friend, then all beings, using the Buddha’s lotus image and the “bodhisattva in disguise” frame. After 15-minute breakout groups, he closes by proposing a between-sessions practice of reverence—seeing everyone as a potential Buddha—underscored by C. S. Lewis’s line about living among “possible gods and goddesses.”

We continue exploring upekkhā (equanimity) as an insight practice, situating it alongside the other brahmavihārās and the twofold Buddhist path of “vision and transformation” (per Sangharakshita’s teaching on the Noble Eightfold Path). We look at how equanimity differs from withdrawal, touch on Buddhaghosa’s treatment, and examine clinging to self through vipassanā-style reflection. Links to the dedicated site/Padlet are shared, including different translations of the Nīrāmisa Sutta.

We then practice a guided equanimity meditation using three phrases—“May you accept the arising and passing of things. May you abide in equanimity, free from attachment or aversion. May you know the deep peace of awakening.”—and reflect on impermanence with a brief reading from the Aṅguttara Nikāya (the “river from the mountains” simile). The sit emphasizes soft, receptive attention, acknowledging change, and wishing ourselves and others well.

Bodhipakṣa makes a few remarks on cultivating muditā—delighting in the good—through everyday gratitude and kind awareness. He leads a meditation that highlights how thoughts naturally come to an end and how the mind “finds its way home.” 

Participants share small, real-life appreciations (from a home-cooked meal to clean running water), discovering how noticing goodness—our own and others’—steadies the heart. 

Next, there is a meditation with the unofficial ‘5th Brahma Vihara’ – a form of Tonglen practice where participants try to transform the suffering within ourselves and the world. After a brief pause responding to input from the group chat, this leads into a metta bhavana practice.

We open with brief settling and then a short compassion meditation (karuṇā bhāvanā), using phrases like “May you be at peace… May you be compassionate to yourself and others,” bringing a suffering person to mind and meeting what arises with kind attention.

The talk focuses on apology as practice and ethical reflection. We look at the mirror simile from the Ambalaṭṭhika Rāhulovāda Sutta (MN 61, Majjhima Nikāya), noting the Pāli play on “reflection,” and the Buddha’s advice to review deeds of body, speech, and mind—confessing to a teacher or fellow practitioner and restraining in future. A brief image of Brahmā Sahampati nurturing “seedlings” frames a tender, encouraging attitude to our own goodness, before we close the meditation.