Today we are going to be practicing a loving kindness meditation.
This practice comes from a Tibetan Buddhist lineage and is a powerful practice in generating bodhicitta,
Or the unconditional love for all beings,
The wish that we eliminate suffering for all beings.
This practice is powerful in generating compassion and love for those around us and also ourselves,
And can assist in softening the heart,
Being more kind to others,
And for me it really just made life feel that much sweeter.
Before we get situated for this practice,
I invite you to make one small change about the environment around you to signify the start of our practice.
This can be as simple as changing the lighting,
Lighting a candle,
Burning some incense,
Or simply moving something around in your room,
Something to make it special or extraordinary.
Whenever you're ready,
Find a comfortable meditative posture,
A posture in which you can just let your body go for the next few minutes in order to awaken your mind.
And when you're comfortable and it feels safe to do so,
Gently close your eyes.
Begin connecting to your breath,
Noticing the normal pattern of breath and how it feels within the body.
See if you can bring the attention to the sensation of the breath at the tip of the nose,
Noticing the difference in qualities on the inhale versus the exhale.
Bring your next inhale deep into the belly,
Filling up through the lungs,
Holding ripe and full at the top,
And on your own time,
Exhale through the mouth.
Take two more deep breaths just like that,
Inhaling into the belly,
Chest,
Holding at the top,
Exhaling through the mouth.
One more on your own.
You can continue this breathing pattern or go back to your normal pattern of breath,
Feeling your body completely supported by the ground beneath you.
In your mind's eye,
Begin to imagine your version of a perfect paradise,
A place in which no harm can come to you.
You feel completely safe and at ease and inspired by the environment around you.
Notice the details of this perfect paradise and let yourself savor it for just a few moments,
Remembering that you can always return back to this place at any time when this practice or when life feels too much,
It feels too overwhelming or too big to handle.
Know that you can always come back to your perfect paradise because it lives within you.
I invite you to bring to mind your highest understanding of emptiness,
This concept that everything is empty of a nature,
Everything in our reality comes from our own mind and with that simple fact,
Everything is up for transformation.
Think about the limitless potential of this world,
Of your own mind,
And of the minds of others.
Feeling completely safe and at ease,
I invite you to bring to mind a moment that you have experienced unconditional love,
A memory that embodies this expansive feeling of love.
See it play out in your mind's eye,
Noticing the details and letting yourself be completely absorbed in that memory.
Allow that memory to generate a small flame at the center of your chest,
A blue white crystalline flame seated the seat of your heart.
Let this memory fade but maintain that flame,
Maintain that feeling of love permeating throughout your entire being.
Feel this blue white crystalline light grow bigger with each inhale,
Stretching to each corner of your body,
Every crevice,
Every pore of your skin.
Feel completely filled by this unconditional love,
So much so that you want to extend it outwards.
Before you do so,
Think of someone in your life that is easy to love,
Envision them standing in front of you,
Smiling at you,
Feel this blue white crystalline light seeping through the pores of your body,
Extending outward,
Reaching towards this person in your life that is easy to love.
It feels natural to love them.
Watch as this blue white crystalline light engulfs this person,
And immediately washes away all pain and suffering and worry that they may be experiencing.
See them transform before your eyes from the simple touch of your love.
See this person walk towards the left side of you as someone neutral in your life appears before you.
This can be someone that maybe you see often but don't know much about them.
Perhaps a barista,
Someone your neighbors with,
The bus driver,
Anyone who has impacted you in some way but you don't have a direct relationship with.
You feel this desire to continue reaching out your love.
They too want to be loved,
And they too have suffering to be transformed.
Allow this blue white crystalline light to reach forward and encapsulate this neutral person in your life.
See just as before their worries wash away,
A smile forms on their face as if they are saying thank you.
Feel the love pulsing outward,
Generating compassion for this neutral being in your life that too deserves to be loved.
Allow this being to walk away,
Stand next to that first person who is easy to love,
As you bring to mind someone in your life that maybe has been going through a rough time recently,
Someone who has been struggling,
Or feeling tender,
Or just needs a little extra love.
See them standing in front of you,
And naturally the only thing to do is extend that blue white crystalline light towards them as if it were a warm hug.
Soften into the presence of this being,
Knowing that this blue white crystalline light is doing what it needs to do.
Your love is healing them in the ways that they need.
Watch as their worries wash away,
And they are left with the imprint of this blue white crystalline light.
See these three beings standing before you,
See the transformation that your unconditional love had on them,
And think if I can do this for them,
I can do this for anyone,
Anyone,
For everyone.
Feel this desire to stretch the blue white crystalline light past these beings,
As far as it'll go over the horizon,
Stretching to every crevice of this earth,
To engulf every sentient being with the purest,
Most unconditional love.
Feel your heart space beaming as you continue to stretch out your love,
And know that it is endless.
There is no lack of love.
In fact,
The more you love,
The more there is to love.
In fact,
The more you love,
The more love there is.
You feel as if you could keep going forever,
But it's time to come back.
You feel as if you could go forever,
But you know that it must come back.
Watch this blue white crystalline light slowly and on your own time,
Come back to its origin point at the center of your chest.
See the imprint that it has made on every being that it has touched,
And know that those efforts do not disappear.
Once this blue white crystalline light has returned at the center of your chest,
Feel what it feels like to be fully embodied in unconditional love,
Bringing a slight smile to the corners of your mouth,
Feeling good about this practice,
Maybe taking a moment to bring to mind someone that you want to dedicate the efforts of this practice to.
Knowing that what we want most,
We must give it away.
Begin connecting back to your breath.
Begin awakening your body,
Maybe wiggling your fingers or toes,
Rolling your neck,
Shoulders.
And before you come back into the physical space around you,
Bring to mind one more time that concept of emptiness,
Of limitless potential.
Maybe,
Just maybe,
That upon opening your eyes,
Your entire reality can be transformed.
Whenever you're ready,
Gently blink the eyes open.
Let the light of the room come in,
Feeling good about the practice that you have done,
Knowing that these efforts have touched more beings than you could have imagined.
