May All Suffering Quickly Cease

The purpose of this meditation is to develop the strong wish that all living beings be free from their suffering.

I began the meditation by thinking about the suffering of living beings. They have taken rebirth in contaminated aggregates: the body and mind of a samsaric being, with a mind contaminated by the inner poison of delusions. Because of their aggregates they experience suffering, and because of their inner poison of delusions, their actions are the cause of future sufferings.

I imagined all living beings with me. My parents of this life were right here with me, and around us were all other humans, animals and other beings trapped in samsara. I thought of the suffering of my parents – Mum with Alzheimer’s, Dad unable to enjoy her company in retirement – knowing there is no hope for improvement. I thought of the people of Iraq, Libya, Eastern Africa, Eastern USA, and the countless other places in the world. There is nowhere in samara which is free from suffering.

I made a strong wish that they all become free from their suffering. Not just that they find protection from suffering, but that they attain a state where suffering simply does not exist. I repeated the words ‘May all suffering quickly cease’. I felt their suffering start to dissolve and disappear. I made the determination that I would do whatever I could to make this happen. I stayed with this feeling of all their suffering ceasing, and my strong wish that it should happen. I felt an open,clear feeling in my mind – the emptiness of their suffering, which they should experience, rather than the suffering itself. I gazed constantly at this feeling for the rest of the meditation.

Dedication

May all living beings come to embody Great Compassion, and attain enlightenment for the sake of all living beings.

Practice in the meditation break.

Whenever I see suffering, I will strengthen my compassion. Where I can, I will try to help relieve the suffering of others through my actions or – where that is not possible- my prayers and dedication of virtue.