Begin by observing your breath for a few minutes to calm the mind.Think of the qualities of infinite love, compassion, wisdom, skillful means and other wonderful qualities you aspire to develop. What would it feel like to have those qualities? Get a sense of the expansiveness and peace of having a wise and kind heart that reaches out impartially to work for the benefit of all beings.
Those qualities of love, compassion, wisdom, skillful means, and so on now appear in the physical form of the Buddha, in the space in front of you. He sits on an open lotus flower, and flat sun and moon disks. His body is made of radiant transparent light, as is the entire visualization. His body is golden and he wears the robes of a monk. His right palm rests on his right knee and his left is in his lap, holding a bowl of nectar, which is medicine to cure our afflictions and other hindrances. The Buddha's face is very beautiful. His smiling, compassionate gaze looks at you with total acceptance and simultaneously encompasses all sentient beings. HIs eyes are long, narrow and peaceful. His lips are red and his earlobes long.
Rays of light emanate from each pore of the Buddha's body and reach every part of the universe. These rays carry countless miniature Buddhas, some going out to help beings, others dissolving back into the Buddha after having finished their work.
The Buddha is surrounded by the entire lineage of spiritual teachers, all meditational deities, innumerable other Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, dakas, dakinis, and Dharma protectors. To the side of each spiritual master is an elegant table upon which are arranged volumes of Dharma teachings.
Surrounding you are all sentient beings appearing in human form, with your mother on your left and your father on your right. The people you do not get along with are in front of you. All of you are looking to the Buddha for guidance.
--from Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path, by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
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