Loving-kindness meditation.
Beginning the practice by finding a posture that's comfortable,
Where you can sit with great ease and relaxation,
Sitting as an expression of kindness for your body.
And then gently closing your eyes,
Bring your attention to your heart,
To the center of your chest,
Feeling your breath moving in and out through the chest.
In this meditation,
We'll cultivate the qualities of friendliness,
Of warmth,
Unconditional kindness and regard to ourselves and others.
And we begin at home with ourselves.
Just taking a moment to sense into your own goodness,
Your good heart,
Your wish to be happy,
Reflecting on qualities that you like about yourself,
Or some action that you've done some act of generosity that allows you to see that sense of goodness in your heart.
I'll be repeating four phrases that express the general wish of the heart for ourselves and others to be well,
To be happy,
Physically,
Mentally,
Emotionally.
You're welcome to use these phrases.
Use phrases of your own or adapt the ones I give.
Keeping the phrases simple and general enough,
You can wish the sentiments to all beings.
Sensing yourself,
Sensing your heart,
Offering these phrases of kindness to yourself.
May I be safe.
As you say each phrase,
Feeling,
Connecting with the sentiment,
Sensing the quality in your body.
May I be safe.
Like dropping a pebble into a pond.
Feeling the reverberation.
May I be healthy and strong.
May I be happy and peaceful.
May I live with ease in this world.
May I feel safe.
May I be healthy.
May I be happy.
May I feel happy.
May I live with ease.
You can be saying these phrases to yourself in present time.
You may imagine yourself as a younger person or a child or an infant.
You may want to place your hand on your heart.
Each time saying the phrases slowly,
Genuinely,
Connecting with the meaning of each phrase.
You may wish to time the phrases with your breath.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy.
May I be happy.
May I live with ease.
You may wish to add this phrase for yourself.
May I love and accept myself just as I am.
May I love and accept myself just as I am.
And the attention wanders,
Noticing that,
And kindly bringing the attention back to yourself,
To your heart,
And begin saying the phrases again.
Not looking to generate any particular feeling,
Although feelings may come and go,
But to stay steady with the intention of wishing kindness,
Happiness for yourself as a gesture of friendliness.
Now calling to mind a person with whom it's easy for you to feel a sense of warmth,
Connection,
Love.
This person,
Known as the benefactor,
Is said to be someone when you think about them brings a smile to your face,
Gladness to the heart.
Calling someone to mind,
Visualizing them,
Getting a sense of them,
Say their name,
Taking a moment to reflect on their goodness,
Their good qualities,
Their wish to be happy.
And then offering these gestures,
These phrases of connection to them.
May you too be safe and protected.
May you be healthy and strong,
Or as healthy as you're able to be.
May you be happy and peaceful.
And may you live with ease.
Keeping a strong sense of this person in your heart or your mind.
Saying the phrases,
Staying connected with the meaning of the phrase.
May you be safe.
May you be healthy.
May you be happy.
May you live with ease.
Now calling into your heart a good friend,
Someone with whom currently you're feeling a lot of ease,
Connection,
Warmth.
Calling this person into your heart,
Sensing them,
Visualizing them,
Perhaps remembering a time they were happy.
Say their name,
Sense the goodness of their heart.
And the phrases of loving kindness to them.
May you too be safe.
May you be healthy.
May you be happy.
May you live with ease.
Saying the phrases in your own time.
Genuinely connecting with the meaning of each phrase.
Being watchful of the tendency to think about your friend,
This is simply offering them these phrases of kindness.
Now the next stage,
We extend this field of friendliness to a neutral person,
Someone we have neither strong feelings for nor against.
Someone perhaps we see regularly or daily in the store,
The bank,
Post office,
In our neighborhood,
At work.
Calling someone to mind,
Into your heart,
Whom you have no strong feelings or preferences for or against.
By connecting with this person that they too wish to be happy,
Wish to be healthy.
They too have innate goodness.
Or once a young infant or child with hopes and dreams,
Just like you.
So we extend this wish of kindness to them.
Making a particular effort to keep this person in our heart,
In our mind's eye.
May you too be safe and protected.
May you be healthy.
May you be happy.
And may you live with ease in this world.
And now calling to mind someone with whom you're having difficulty with.
Someone you know that's perhaps irritating,
Challenging.
Maybe an acquaintance,
A good friend,
A neighbor,
A loved one even.
Once of this practice designed to include everyone in our heart,
To not reject anyone,
To see if we can maintain connection and warmth,
Kindness,
Even in difficult circumstances.
Not condoning any acts of harm or suffering.
But to know that even when there's conflict and strife,
We don't need to close the heart,
We can keep it open.
So calling someone to mind where there's some difficulty.
And if you can,
Still sensing this person's goodness,
That they like you wish to be happy.
And if they're suffering or causing suffering,
To know that it often comes from pain,
From ignorance.
Knowing that someone somewhere loves them,
Can perhaps appreciate them in a way that you can't in this moment.
And extending a gesture of friendliness.
May you too be safe.
May you be healthy.
May you be happy.
May you live with ease.
Again,
Being watchful,
Being carried away by thoughts and feelings,
Arguments or struggles.
Keep coming back to this simple wish for them to be well and happy.
If you find you get too triggered,
You can come back to yourself.
Extending the phrases of kindness to yourself.
Soothing,
Calming the heart.
And then open up again to offering phrases to this person or perhaps another person.
And now we extend this field of kindness and friendliness outwards in ever widening circles.
You may wish to include and extend this warmth and love to all loved ones,
Friends,
Family,
Whoever comes to you in your heart,
Your mind.
May you all too be safe.
Be healthy.
Be happy.
And live with ease.
Extending this wish to all the life around you,
Your neighborhood,
Your town,
All the peoples you know that you don't know,
To the creatures,
Animals,
Birds,
The nature.
May your life here be safe.
Be healthy.
Be happy.
And live with ease.
And slowly extending this open-hearted field of kindness to as many beings as possible.
To all peoples everywhere,
All children,
All elders,
All women,
All men,
All creatures,
Animals,
Beings of the sea and the sky,
Insects.
To all life everywhere and the earth herself.
May your life everywhere be safe and protected.
May your life be healthy and strong.
May all beings everywhere be peaceful and happy.
And live with freedom and ease.
And you may continue sitting in this space of kindness,
Extending warmth and friendliness outwards in all directions.
When you're ready to bring the practice to a close,
Just taking a moment to sense your heart and your body,
To feel the effect of the practice and to make the intention as you go into your life,
Into the world.
To take this sense of warmth and friendliness outwards to whomever you meet,
Whatever situation you encounter.
