08 Compassion

This afternoon session is a guided meditation on the second of the four immeasurables: compassion. In following question and answer period, Alan answers the following questions: 1. What should one do with strong emotions that well up during shamatha practice? 2. What should one do with the natural arising of compassion or loving-kindness during shamatha practice? 3. Recognizing the importance placed on lights and signs from within the contemplative traditions, does neuroscience offer any insight into the biology underpinning these experiences? 4. What are the mechanisms and role of purification practices within the context of shamatha? 5. Knowing that consciousness and the self are both impermanent, is the observer also impermanent?