Well,
Hello everybody and thank you for joining us today.
Paul Carlos here and we're going to be taking a loving-kindness meditation today,
Loosely based on the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness.
This is a really important meditation that we should take regularly,
At least a few times a week,
If not every day,
And almost use it as a base,
An anchor to return to,
Especially in this time of storms,
As this meditation becomes established within our body,
Mind and spirit.
So I'll invite you to take a meditation posture.
Sit comfortably.
The idea is that the back is straight,
The spine is straight,
The chest is not collapsing,
And we're aligning our spine with the axis between the earth and the heavens.
So if it's easier for you to sit in a chair,
That is fine.
Sit on the cushion,
Sit on the meditation stool,
Or any of the other postures that are comfortable for you,
For at least 20 minutes.
Make sure you're warm and comfortable,
With no distractions.
Sit quietly for a few moments,
Connecting with our body,
Sensations,
Feelings,
Connecting with our mind as such,
As we find it,
Without any judgments,
Without any comments whatsoever,
Simply as we find it,
Connecting with our heart and our spirit,
As we find those.
So breathing gently.
The breath is extremely important.
Keep the breath soft,
Comfortable,
Easy.
Just breathe quietly,
Relaxing the skin,
Especially on your face,
But all over the body,
Letting go gently on that exhalation,
Even slightly accentuating the exhalation.
Smiling gently to yourself,
Corners of the eyes and mouth,
Inner smile,
Relaxing your jaw,
Relaxing the tongue,
And being here now,
Being present-minded,
Coming into observer mode,
Observing,
Noticing the physical body,
The mind,
Heart and spirit,
Noticing when we get distracted and we want to,
Or we find ourselves slipping off into the past or the future,
Thinking about some aspect or something without judgment and castigation,
Bring your attention gently back to the present moment,
Into observational mode.
So the loving kindness meditation almost has as a foundation the fortification of our own being,
Our own heart and spirit,
Body,
Mind.
And the idea is very simple,
That we need to take care of ourself on these levels so that we can capably take care of others,
Our environment,
So that we can capably do our duties,
Whatever those are,
Perhaps to family,
And so that we can have strength and fortitude to tread the spiritual path for spiritual growth and development,
Spiritual inquiry,
Which is the art and science of developing our spirit,
The evolution of our own awareness,
Giving rise to consciousness.
So in the spirit of caring and kindness,
Let us extend these feelings firstly towards ourself,
To our own heart and spirit,
Mind and body,
Circumstances and conditions,
Situation,
The state of our health,
Perhaps physical,
Emotional,
Mental.
Let us extend the feeling of kindness,
Caring,
Respect and honor towards ourselves,
Empathy and compassion,
Important foundations.
So let us be careful that the compassion doesn't become self-pity or self-pampering in the wrong kind of way,
But simply an acknowledgement of our own intrinsic value as beings of the multidimensional universe,
Not based on our body,
Mind,
Our achievements,
Our name,
Our status,
Based in the intrinsic value of our beingness as living immortal spirits,
Not dependent on the physical plane or body.
This is the value that is important to self-worth,
To grow and develop.
Let us dwell for a moment longer on how we can extend kindness,
Acceptance,
The qualities of compassion and empathy,
Caring,
Gentleness,
Acceptance towards ourselves,
To take away the kinds of judgments against ourself and others that debilitates us deeply,
That keeps us trapped and locked in the same mental circuits,
Physical circuits,
Programs,
Emotional programs,
The same feelings going round and round.
Can we extend this out to a good friend or perhaps a few good friends that we call to mind and extend this very same sense and feeling and sentiment of kindness and caring,
Seeking wisdom,
Relationships with ourself and with others,
To have as a priority the development and the seeking of wisdom beyond power,
Beyond manipulation.
Let us reach powerfully for wisdom.
Can we further extend these qualities of loving kindness to someone that we dislike,
That perhaps has done us wrong in some way in our own eyes,
Is an obstacle in some way,
Perhaps there is a group or few people that fall into this category.
Can we extend the same qualities of loving kindness in an authentic way?
It is the authentic feeling thought,
Attention,
Intention that is transmitted,
Beyond lip service.
And then can we further extend our loving kindness to one or many that are neutral,
That we don't have any strong emotions and feelings towards,
Perhaps the greater group in our society,
In our community,
Perhaps the greater group in our country.
Extend these feelings of loving kindness,
These qualities of spiritual growth and development,
Expression.
May all these beings find peace,
May we ourselves find peace and harmony and balance.
May all these beings,
Beginning with ourself,
The parts that we know of ourselves and the aspects that we are not so aware of,
Of ourselves,
May we find wisdom and compassion.
May we find ultimate enlightenment.
May we find freedom.
Whatever power we find,
We find we need wisdom to use that power for the purposes of freedom.
How can we extend to all the animals and birds and the fish,
All sentient beings around us and moving outwards eventually across the whole world,
Across the whole globe,
In the forests and jungles,
In the sea,
In the high mountains,
Even in the deserts.
All sentient beings from small insects to large animals and perhaps even beings that we know nothing about,
Beings with a soul,
A heart and a spirit.
May all beings find peace,
May all beings find wisdom,
Compassion and empathy,
Understanding,
Caring and kindness.
May all beings find enlightenment.
May all beings come to the knowledge,
The understanding and the perception of unity,
Of interdependence,
Interrelationship,
Balance and harmony.
May all beings find equanimity.
May all beings find liberation,
Freedom with wisdom.
So we dwell in our mind on these people in our life,
Extending out to those we like,
Those we dislike,
Our own perception and understanding to all the peoples of the world,
To all the sentient beings of the world.
And lastly,
Let's extend that out beyond,
For we don't really know.
All beings in the universe,
All sentient beings with a heart and a spirit,
With a soul,
May they find peace,
May they find compassion,
Wisdom,
May they find freedom.
Let's gently place our hands over our heart center,
Cross your hands over one on top of the other and just return briefly to our own physical heart and our psychic heart,
Our spirit,
Our soul,
The direct knowledge,
The knowing that arises from our heart in this present moment.
And we should know that these qualities,
Expression and knowledge are only available in silence and quietness,
In stillness and emptiness,
Neutrality of emotional charge,
For this is the true home,
The domain of the heart and spirit.
Let us recognize that the rational analytical mind is only good for certain purposes and let's keep it to those purposes.
We anchor,
Root,
Ground,
We dwell,
Cleave close and take refuge in our heart and spirit and true mind.
I wish everybody well.
May we all find freedom,
Balance,
Peace,
Joy,
Fulfillment,
Contentment.
Namaste.
