Loving Kindness - Compassion Meditation

Hello,

And welcome to the Loving Kindness Meditation.

My name is Komal Chopra.

I wanted to take you down this meditation as a way to develop empathy within yourself,

But also as a way to develop some feelings of love and kindness towards yourself,

Your loved ones,

Even people you don't know or don't have a deep relationship with,

And also people that you may be having a difficult relationship with.

It's important that we remember everybody everywhere has the same desire of love and happiness.

Now before we begin any meditation,

It's important to note how we position ourselves.

So the most important thing is to allow yourself to sit comfortably,

And whatever that means to you,

Whether it's sitting down on a chair or on the floor or laying on the floor,

Just ensuring that your spine and your neck are in alignment with one another,

And that you're sitting in a position of alertness,

Yet your body is relaxed.

Now I'd like to invite you to close your eyes or just have a downward gaze.

Feel the natural state of your body.

Notice the subtle rise and fall of your body as you breathe in and out.

Noticing the natural state of your breath,

The ease in which we do this every day,

Every second of the day.

Just feel your breath rising and falling,

Easy and as it is.

Now picture yourself sitting as though you're looking at yourself from an outside perspective.

Picture your body,

The outline of your shape,

Perhaps the clothes you're wearing,

And just see your face clearly.

And as you see yourself,

Start to direct some loving feelings and benevolent attention towards yourself.

We can start by saying the simple phrase,

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be free from pain.

May I live my life with ease.

Allow the phrases to just emerge.

Don't try to force anything to happen.

Just allow these very simple phrases to emerge from your body.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be free of pain.

May I live my life with ease.

Now just take a deep breath in and a slow exhale out.

Now expand your breath and your awareness towards someone who's very close to you.

This could also be a group of people.

Someone or a group of people who love you very much.

Someone or a group of people who deeply care for you.

That person could still be living on this earth or it could also be someone who's passed away.

Picture their face clearly.

Imagine this person is sitting with you right now.

Sitting to your left,

Looking at you and sending you nurturing intentions towards yourself.

They're loving you,

Caring for you.

Imagine that this person is sending these same positive wishes towards you.

Imagine them saying,

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

Now take a deep breath in and a slow and steady exhale out.

Allow this person to drift away from your mind.

Now picture an acquaintance in your life.

Someone that you don't have a very deep relationship with.

This could be a colleague at work,

A neighbor or a person that you frequently see at the supermarket.

Someone that you see occasionally or someone that you see on a regular basis.

Picture that person in your mind and see their face clearly.

Remember all beings everywhere share the same desire to want to be happy and wishing for an ease in life.

So we wish for this person love,

Freedom,

Happiness and the same joy that we wish for ourselves.

In our mind,

Let's repeat the same simple phrases.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

Now let's take a deep breath in and a slow exhale out.

Allow that person to drift away from your mind.

Now let's picture someone in your life that you've had some difficulty with.

Perhaps it's a friend or a family member or a work colleague.

Someone that you've had a disagreement with or someone that you find irritating or annoying.

Picture this person's face clearly.

As we embark to send words of compassion to this person,

We're not excusing them of any behavior.

We're also not forcing ourselves to feel anything different than what we truly feel.

Instead we're recognizing the same feeling of oneness of all human beings desires.

That everybody everywhere just wants to be happy including this person.

Visualize yourself with this person putting yourself at an equal footing with this individual.

And in your mind let's repeat these same simple wishes.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

Let's take a deep inhale in and a slow exhale out.

Allowing this person to drift away from your mind.

Now we're going to expand ourselves a little bit further.

I want you to imagine the people in your neighborhood.

And now let's imagine all the people in our city.

And let's go a bit further out and imagine everybody who lives in our state.

Going the next step further and imagining all the living beings in our country at this very time.

And now let's imagine all living beings whether they're human beings,

Animals,

Plants,

Creatures.

All living beings on planet Earth.

When we imagine all living beings we move to a sense of boundlessness.

And we're going to direct some very simple wishes to all living creatures.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be free of pain.

May you live your life with ease.

Now allow yourself to sit with yourself and allow whatever feelings are arising to come to the surface.

You can always use these simple phrases of wishing,

Happiness,

Healthiness,

And living in ease in life.

To anyone,

Any relationship,

Including yourself.

Just direct these simple phrases to any part of your life.

This could be as you're walking along in the park sending wishes to complete strangers.

This practice allows us to build something that is much needed in this world,

Empathy.

Allowing yourself to be filled with feelings of love and kindness.

When you allow yourself to fill yourself up with these positive and healing feelings,

These feelings are radiated by your loved ones and by complete strangers.

Whenever you're ready and you feel that you've had enough of this intention,

Feel free to open your eyes.

Thank you so much for joining me in this meditation,

Wishing you health and happiness.

Thank you.