There’s a meditation I like to do sometimes called “suffering meditation.” This may not sound appealing but the output can be very beautiful. It works by simply sitting still and inviting all your unconscious or repressed suffering into consciousness. The core of the meditation sits in this intent: an attitude of welcoming invitation towards feelings of pain and suffering. Then noticing them when they arrive. Holding them in awareness. And just lending your pain and suffering the light of your consciousness. Then offering it space to unfold however they wish to unfold. A few notable things I notice about suffering when I allow myself to simply hold it in this way: - My thinking mind goes very peaceful, revealing that most thoughts are simply attempts to block out suffering - Many sufferings - especially emotional ones - cease to feel like suffering when held without resistance, revealing that the suffering is often *made out of* resistance - Unconscious sufferings hold a lot of energy and bringing them into awareness can actually be very energizing as a result. - When I bring them into consciousness and let them unfold, my sufferings often eventually transform into beautiful light. At the end of this meditation my visual field will often be literally filled with beautiful flickering white light. It is this last point that always feels most profound to me. That suffering is often made of light and energy that is just temporarily bent in the wrong shape. Sometimes the process of this meditation feels like simply letting all the trapped light inside me rise and express itself. I call it “suffering meditation” but I could equally call it “light meditation.” All the light we seek is trapped in the darkness of our suffering.