Lovingkindness Meditation (Live Recording)

So let's just begin by filling our way into our meditation posture again.

Because loving kindness meditation or Metta meditation is very much to do with our feelings,

Emotions,

Volitions,

To do with the heart in short,

It's good to make sure that you have an open heart.

Perhaps just taking a couple of deep breaths into the upper chest just to feel a sense of openness and expansiveness.

And as you breathe out,

Just making sure that you keep a little bit of that openness.

The kind thing to do to yourself or for yourself is just to let your body relax.

So just letting your awareness scan through the body and if you find any unnecessary tension,

Just seeing if you can soften a little.

And you can even imagine that on every out breath there is a wave of relaxation sweeping down through the body.

And I'm going to ask you to consider a couple of reflections.

You don't have to think about these.

You just drop them in and just allow your mind probably below the threshold of consciousness to just deal with these reflections.

The first reflection is just a simple statement.

I want to be happy.

You want to be happy.

Just dropping that thought in that you want to be happy.

If you notice any resistance to that reflection just allowing that resistance to be there but just seeing what else is there.

You might want to even call to mind times in your life from perhaps your home life or from your work life,

Times that you haven't been happy.

Just see was there a desire there for happiness?

Here's another reflection,

Second reflection.

It's not easy to experience happiness.

Happiness is quite elusive at times.

So just letting that reflection sink in.

Sometimes we can feel a bit tender and vulnerable allowing that thought in.

That although we may wish to be happy,

A lot of the time we're not.

You might find yourself remembering times when you did not feel happy,

When there was perhaps conflict or anxiety or stress in your life.

So those two reflections.

Now an invitation.

I'm going to ask you to ask the part of yourself that wants you to be happy,

That wants you to be well,

That wants you to be at peace.

To ask that part of you to wish you well.

To bear your well-being in mind,

To value your well-being.

And that part of you that wants you to be happy can wish you well by repeating some phrases,

Just dropping those into the heart over and over again.

So there's many phrases we could use.

I'm just going to suggest three which are,

May I be well,

May I be happy,

May I find peace,

May I be well,

May I be happy,

May I find peace.

Just taking your time as you drop these phrases in.

It's like dropping flowers one by one into a still forest pool and watching the ripples.

Just offering ourselves some support as we do this difficult thing of being human.

All right?

And now I'd like you to call to mind a friend,

Someone that you have a good relationship with,

Someone whose well-being you care about.

When they're happy,

You're pleased.

When they're feeling down,

That concerns you.

And just considering that your friend wants to be happy,

Just dropping that thought in.

Dropping in the thought that for your friend,

Happiness is a rarer experience than they would like.

Happiness is elusive.

And just seeing if there's part of you that's prepared to support your friend emotionally as they do this difficult thing of being human.

By dropping in those phrases or other phrases of your choice,

Wishing them well,

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you find peace.

You just might want to imagine what your friend might be doing right now.

And just see yourself as an invisible And now just letting the image of your friend fade away for a while.

And we call to mind what's called a neutral person.

Just somebody who's not a friend,

You're not in conflict with them.

It might be somebody that you barely know,

You only see in a transactional way.

Maybe they work in a grocery store or the post office or maybe there's a neighbour.

And just considering that this person wants to be happy,

Dropping that thought in.

Just like you,

Just like your friend,

This person wants to be happy.

This person's happiness and unhappiness are as real to them and as important to them as yours is to you,

As your friend's is to them.

Just recognising how difficult life can be,

How rare and fleeting happiness can be.

So that this person finds happiness difficult to attain,

Finds happiness elusive.

It is offering your emotional support to this person as they do this difficult thing of being human along with us,

Along with our friend.

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you find happiness.

May you be happy.

May you be happy.

Letting the neutral person fade away and we call to mind somebody that we have some kind of difficulty with.

Maybe we tend to argue with them a lot,

Maybe we dislike them.

Maybe they've hurt us and we have resentful thoughts about them.

So calling someone like that to mind and just considering this person just like you,

Your friend,

Just like everybody else,

Like every other being wants to be happy.

They're a feeling being whose happiness and wellbeing is important to them.

And just dropping in the thought that for this person happiness is elusive as it is for us all.

Human life is difficult.

And despite the fact that we have our difficulties with this person,

Just seeing if you can wish them well in their life,

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you find peace.

May you be happy.

May you be happy.

May you be happy.

May you be happy.

May you be happy.

And now becoming aware of the actual space around us right now.

Seeing if you can connect with a sense of spacious awareness.

Aware of the space in front of you,

Behind you,

To the left and right.

Aware that there are other people in this space.

And we can just drop in the reflection.

All beings want happiness.

Everyone wants to be happy.

Everyone finds happiness elusive,

Difficult to attain.

Just seeing if you can feel a sense of kindness in this field of awareness.

As if your kindness is reaching outside of you right now.

When you hear someone breathing or you are aware of their presence near you.

Just being aware.

Here is a being who wants happiness.

He doesn't want to suffer.

He finds it hard to avoid suffering and he finds that happiness is all too rare.

So just meeting this person with kindness.

Imagining that the other three people from the practice are sitting in space with us right now.

And meeting them with kindness.

So at this stage of the practice we are doing what is called breaking the boundaries.

So we are no longer dealing with one to one relationships.

So may we all,

May all beings be well.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings find peace.

And traditionally,

At least the way the Buddha seems to have taught the practice is we call to mind or we become aware of the direction in front of us.

And we just consider may all beings in that direction be well and happy and find peace.

You can take the direction to your right.

May all beings in that direction be well and happy and that peace.

And the direction behind you.

May all beings be well.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings find peace.

And to your left doing the same thing.

So whatever happens in this practice is all right.

If you are sitting here feeling a sense of kindness expanding into the space around you so that any being that you were to meet right now you would meet them with kindness.

Then that's fine.

If you are sitting here confused,

Bored,

Just accepting that's what's going on right now.

Just seeing if you can breathe and be at ease with your experience.

And just letting the eyes to open.

And whatever quality of attention you've given rise to over the last thirty minutes.

Just allowing it to engage more fully with the world.