If our understanding is right,
Then our thoughts will be right.
And if our thoughts are right,
Then all our doing,
All our actions will be right.
Friedrich Nietzsche said,
I was in darkness,
But I took three steps and found myself in paradise.
The first step was a good thought,
The second a good word,
And the third a good deed.
The Buddha said,
Whatever one thinks about and ponders on often,
The mind gets a leaning in that way.
And in the Bible it says,
As a man thinks,
So he is.
This precept in Buddhist thinking is about having thoughts of peace and non-violence towards all.
This is considered to be true wisdom.
If we think that we are all just waves of energy,
We are all made of the same thing,
We are the same,
Therefore we are all connected,
Then to think harmful thoughts towards another is to do the same to ourselves.
Tolstoy said,
Free thinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs,
Privileges or beliefs.
This state of mind is not common,
But it is essential for right thinking.
So if whatever we ponder on often is the way our mind will lean,
Let us be deliberate in leaning towards the good,
Towards compassion to all.
Today we are going to do a loving kindness meditation.
This meditation is directing our attention not only to those we love,
But to those we have difficulties with and also to ourselves.
This is a cultivation of an open hearted embrace to any and everybody which increases in positive emotions and feelings of social connection.
So not only is it good for the world,
It is physically good for us.
So I invite you now to close your eyes and relax.
Bring to mind someone either in the past or the present of a time when you felt totally loved.
Think about the qualities of that love they showed you and right here bask in the warmth and the radiance of that heartfelt love and acceptance.
Try not to get caught up in the stories,
Just focus on how it felt to feel that love from another.
How it feels to be held in the loving heart of another.
Allow your heart to be held and bathed in this warmth.
And now repeat these words to yourself.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I live in ease and peace.
Whilst you say these words,
Send yourself the love and warmth you have just felt and sit with the words and the feelings.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I live in ease and peace.
And now expand the field of loving kindness and bring to mind someone for whom you care very deeply.
Someone you are close to emotionally.
Hold that person close to your heart and sense them breathing with you,
Also basking in this feeling of warmth and love.
Say to them,
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in ease and peace.
Sit with this person in your heart,
Breathing together.
And repeat again.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in ease and peace.
And now let's expand the field of loving kindness out further.
Allow yourself to think of someone a little more neutral,
Someone you don't know really well.
A colleague,
A shopkeeper,
A neighbour.
And now bring them close to your heart and see them breathing with you and allow them to feel the warmth and love that you feel.
And say to them,
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in ease and peace.
And breathe with them.
And again repeat the words to them.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in ease and peace.
And now we expand the field even further.
Can you bring to mind someone who you might have a difficult relationship with?
Maybe someone from your past,
A family member,
Someone who you might struggle with.
You are not being asked to forgive or forget anything that has caused you pain.
You are just recognising that they are a human being and also desire the same things that you do.
And so as best you can extend your loving kindness to them.
Bring them as close as you can manage and say to them,
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in ease and peace.
And however close you have brought them,
Breathe with them.
And again repeat the words.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in ease and peace.
And now expand the field again.
Allow your loving kindness to go out.
Maybe see it as a liquid expanding to include all your neighbours,
Your colleagues,
Your community,
Your country,
The entire world.
See those who are less fortunate than you.
Those who are in prison.
Those in hospitals dying.
Those in refugee camps.
And know that they too desire the same things as you.
To be safe and happy and live in peace.
And so to them,
May you all be safe.
May you all be happy.
May you all be healthy.
May you all live in ease and peace.
And breathe with them all.
Allow your feelings of warmth and love that you experienced right at the beginning to spread to all.
See that.
Feel that.
And repeat again to them.
May you all be happy.
May you all be safe.
May you all be healthy.
May you all live in ease and peace.
And again,
Breathe with them all.
And now bring your attention back to your body in contact with the seat or the bed.
Feel any clothing against your skin.
Notice the cool air around the nostrils.
And bring your attention back to any noises outside of the room.
And inside the room.
And have a sense of yourself in your space.
Picture yourself in your space.
Become aware of the space behind you.
And to the left and the right of you.
This space below you.
The space above you.
And the space in front of you.
And only when you are ready,
Slowly and carefully open your eyes.
