Hello,
And welcome to your mettabavana meditation.
Take a few moments to find a comfortable seat where the hips can relax and the spine can lengthen.
You might fold the hands in the lap or place the palms on the knees or thighs facing up or down.
You can close your eyes if you wish or allow them to soften.
Take a few moments to feel your seat grounded on your chair or cushion or floor,
To notice your skin,
The way your clothes feel on the skin,
To notice any sounds around you,
And to notice the sound of your own breath.
Step into deep yogic breathing as you breathe in and out of the nose.
As you breathe in,
Feel belly,
Ribs,
And chest expand.
As you breathe out,
Feel them soften.
Allow the forehead to soften,
The jaw to relax,
Shoulders relaxed.
Bring your focus to your heart space,
Noticing how it feels without judgment.
Maybe it feels closed,
Maybe open,
Maybe tired,
Maybe elated,
Perhaps somewhere in between.
In this meditation,
We cultivate metta or loving kindness.
So take a moment,
If you will,
To find that sensation within the heart of love,
Of gratitude,
Compassion.
Maybe it's a tiny seed.
In this meditation,
Water is that seed,
Allowing it to grow.
Now imagine sitting in front of you,
Someone that you love.
It might be a child,
A friend,
A parent,
Any non-sexual partner who is easy to love.
As you gaze into their eyes and as you breathe deeply,
Start to send this person metta,
Messages of loving kindness using the words,
May you be whatever follows is from your heart.
For example,
May you be love,
May you be light,
May you be compassion,
And so on.
Allow it to flow naturally right from the heart.
And Century Satsang.
Send your last few messages of metta.
May you be to this being before you.
Now let this being dissolve.
Imagine before you someone with whom you hold a neutral connection or neutral charge.
Perhaps someone that you see on a day to day basis but who you don't know.
From the heart,
Start offering messages of metta,
Loving kindness.
May you be.
May you be.
May you be.
May you be.
May you be.
Send your last few messages of metta.
Now allow this person to fade,
To dissolve.
And visualize someone seated before you with whom you hold a negative connection or tension.
And from the heart,
Offer sincere messages of metta,
Loving kindness.
May you be.
If you find the mind starts to veer into negative territory,
Gently bring yourself back to the heart to loving kindness.
May you be.
Send your last few messages of metta.
Send your last few messages of metta.
May you be.
Allow this person to fade.
As you move on to yourself,
Imagine yourself,
Past,
Present,
Or future at any age or stage seated before you.
From the heart,
Offer sincere messages,
Wishes of metta,
Loving kindness.
May you be.
May you be.
If you find the mind starts to veer into negative territory,
Gently bring yourself back to the heart.
Send your last few messages of loving kindness.
Now allow yourself to fade.
As you now bring into your mind's eye,
Into your heart,
All sentient beings,
All beings everywhere.
From the heart,
Sending messages of loving kindness.
May you be.
If you find the mind starts to veer into negative territory,
Imagine yourself,
Past,
Present,
Or future at any age or stage.
Send your last few messages of may you be.
Loving kindness,
Compassion.
And you may release from your mind's eye all sentient beings.
Take several deep breaths as you focus on the heart.
Notice how your heart feels.
Perhaps how it's changed from when you first sat down.
Take the palms together at the heart and send yourself deep gratitude for taking this time for this very important practice.
Each message of metta,
Each breath is a shift toward more compassion,
More kindness,
More peace in this world.
Thank you.
