We have finished the cycle of meditations on cultivating the aspirations of The Four Immeasurables and The Four Greats and Alan urges us now to focus on bodhichitta’s indispensable ingredient, the extraordinary resolve that “I myself will do it.”

Before making this pledge witnessed by all sentient beings and all the buddhas, we must first know how to deliver on it or we will be making an empty promise. Once made, the promise becomes an IOU with no expiration date.

In this silent meditation we should honestly ask what we are willing to dedicate ourselves to. If our pledge is empty rhetoric, we should back off to a level more heartfelt.

The break for the silent, unrecorded meditation starts at 38:12