This is Anasilfa.
I'm glad you're here with me.
Today we will do a loving kindness meditation that is also known as Metta meditation.
The word Metta means friendliness or kindness.
We will recite the traditional phrases to evoke and awaken the loving kindness within the heart.
Let's get started.
Close your eyes down gently.
Take a deep breath.
Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
Take two more of those deep breaths.
Then return to your normal resting breath.
As you breathe,
Begin to pay attention to the area of the heart.
See if you can feel the heart and the breath together as you breathe.
As if you could breathe in and out of the space around the heart.
Feel your breath as if it came in and out right here at the heart center.
A traditional loving kindness meditation begins by directing loving kindness towards ourselves.
So,
Begin by directing these loving kindness phrases towards yourself.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful.
May I live with ease.
Next,
Bring somebody to mind that you love.
Somebody that is easy for you to love.
Somebody that your heart easily opens to.
Say their name quietly in your mind.
With this person in mind,
Repeat the following phrases silently in your mind.
Directing loving kindness towards the person you love.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe.
May you be well in body and in mind.
May you be peaceful.
May you live with ease.
Now,
Begin to invite everybody that you love into your mind and into your heart.
All of your friends and family.
Picture them as a group.
With this group in mind,
Repeat the following phrases silently in your mind.
Directing loving kindness towards the group of people you love.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be well in body and in mind.
May you be peaceful.
May you live with ease.
Now,
Think of an acquaintance.
Somebody you don't know very well.
Somebody that you do not have any familiar feelings.
This could be somebody who works in a local supermarket or store.
Bring this person into your mind and heart and repeat the following phrases silently.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be happy.
May you be well in body and in mind.
May you live with ease.
Now,
Begin to extend your loving kindness to fill this room.
Begin to expand it.
Out your neighbors.
Those that you know that you don't know.
Let the spirit of the loving kindness wash over the entire planet.
Do all.
And repeat silently.
May they be filled with loving kindness.
May they be peaceful.
May they now take a deep breath in.
Slowly start bringing awareness to your body.
Slowly move your fingers and toes.
Bring your awareness to your head,
To your eyes.
And slowly,
To your own time,
Open your eyes.
Have a great day.
