Let's begin this session by settling the body in its natural state,
Either in the sitting posture or the supine.
Resting in a posture of comfort and ease,
In stillness,
And even in the supine position,
Even though it's one of very deep relaxation,
Mentally adopt a physical posture of vigilance,
The sense that this is a formal posture for meditation,
Not simply a posture in which to lie down and rest.
Settle your breathing in its natural rhythm,
Breathing as effortlessly,
As spontaneously,
As naturally,
As if you were deep asleep.
This does not entail trying to deliberately replicate what you think is the breathing pattern of deep sleep,
Thinking that perhaps it must be deep and slow,
Or perhaps shallow,
But rather utterly disengage your will,
The sense of I am and I want,
From the breathing and let it flow without any intervention from your mind.
And set your mind at ease,
Tapping into that stillness within that is clear and bright,
In the practice of Samatha we cultivate this ability to quietly observe,
Passively but attentively.
And now as we venture into the meditative cultivation of loving kindness,
We draw on faculties of the heart and mind,
Of memory and imagination,
Of desire and aspiration.
There is a time-honored tradition,
Honored for a very good reason in the Buddhist tradition,
For beginning the cultivation of loving kindness by directing it inwards upon ourselves,
Loving kindness for ourselves.
Loving kindness being the aspiration,
May you find happiness and cultivate the causes of happiness.
As you shift your mind now into its active mode,
Its visionary mode,
I invite you to envision your own well-being.
What is your heart's desire for the fulfillment,
The happiness,
The satisfaction and meaning that you most deeply seek?
Envision your own well-being.
What quality of well-being would you love to realize today?
And as you mature spiritually,
Tomorrow,
The near future,
The distant future,
Be a visionary and envision your own well-being.
And now with each out-breath,
Arouse the yearning,
May I realize such happiness,
Such fulfillment.
Wish for your own flourishing.
And with each out-breath,
Imagine realizing such well-being here and now.
Let your imagination play.
In order to find the fulfillment that you seek,
There must be support from the world around you,
From other people,
From the natural environment.
We cannot do this on our own.
No one can.
What would you love to receive from the world around you,
From your loved ones,
From society,
From the environment,
So that you can find the fulfillment,
The genuine happiness that you seek?
What would you love to receive from the world around you?
Envision it.
And with each in-breath,
Imagine receiving all that you truly need from moment to moment,
Day to day.
Imagine reality rising up to meet you,
Providing you with all that you need,
Not for every mundane pleasure or desire,
But for these deeper aspirations,
For genuine happiness,
For fulfillment.
With each in-breath,
Arouse this yearning,
May I truly receive all that I need.
With each in-breath,
Imagine indeed receiving all that you need from moment to moment,
Without your needing to reach out and take.
Imagine all that you need flowing in as effortlessly as the breath itself,
Simply to be accepted.
In order to realize your own heart's desire,
Clearly there must be inner transformation.
It's not something that can be done by other people for us.
Envision now,
In order to realize the fulfillment that you seek,
From what qualities,
From what habits of body,
Speech and mind would you love to be free?
Those qualities that impede,
That obstruct your own well-being.
And with what qualities would you love to be endowed,
That will carry you to that fulfillment that you seek?
And with each out-breath,
Arouse this yearning,
May I indeed be free of all qualities and tendencies that impede and obstruct my own and others' well-being.
And may I be endowed with all the qualities that nurture and support my own and others' well-being.
And with each out-breath,
Imagine this to be so.
Imagine maturing and evolving in a way that will lead you to the fulfillment that you seek.
Imagine this to be so here and now.
And finally,
For the sake of your own fulfillment,
In order to imbue your own life with as much meaning as possible,
Envision now what would you love to offer to the world,
To those near and far,
To the natural environment.
What type of mark would you like or love to leave upon the world,
So that when you do face your own death and look back upon your life,
You will do so without regret,
With a deep sense of satisfaction,
The knowing that this was a life well spent.
What would you love to offer to the world over the short term and the long term?
Envision it.
With each in-breath,
Arouse the yearning that you may receive all that you need,
In order to offer all the good that you can.
With each in-breath,
Imagine receiving the blessings of the world.
With each out-breath,
Imagine offering your very best.
With the one yearning,
May we all find happiness,
Genuine happiness,
And cultivate the causes that lead to such well-being.
And imagine this aspiration being realized here and now.
And now for just a moment,
Release all aspirations,
All desires.
Release your imagination and all appearances to the mind,
And for a moment simply rest in the simplicity of your own awareness,
Simply being present.
And let's bring this session to a close.
