Welcome friends.
And thank you for choosing this talk on META.
If you're looking for a talk.
That maybe opens your heart a little bit and helps you to see some of the inner beauty that we hold in ourselves for ourselves and for others.
This might be the talk for you.
I thought I'd start out with a poem by Rumi.
Your task is not to seek for love.
But really to seek and find all the barriers within yourself you've built against it.
So what is meta?
Lumeta is a Pali word which means loving-kindness.
It also means friendliness and it involves having a goodwill towards all people and things.
It's really about seeing the inner nobility and the beauty.
Of everyone.
Is a central concept in Buddhist teachings.
And you'll hear about open-heartedness and loving-kindness within the Insight tradition of meditation quite often.
What else is meta?
Metta is a form of mindfulness.
It's something that we have within ourselves that's innate.
It's our true essence to love.
You see belonging to one another.
Or what's known as interbeing as part of being human.
So without this love,
Deep awareness isn't possible.
So love and mindfulness go together quite well.
To love is to be aware.
And mindfulness is awareness.
So mindfulness is truly an act of love.
You see,
When we practice mindfulness and loving-kindness,
We can better care for our own consciousness with a deep awareness and an open heart.
This helps us to lead a better life.
Knowing or an understanding.
Towards others.
It helps us to be less reactive.
And that sometimes turns into helping others to be more themselves authentically.
When we exude love in this way,
It's an act of bravery that can transform the world.
One moment and one person at a time.
Yeah,
The point of meditation.
Is to arrive fully open-hearted.
To love and to let go.
But requires us to be vulnerable in order to be present.
And to be able to soften.
And so when we soften,
Our heart opens.
So this love is a felt experience and it happens in the body.
When we can unblock the body by going inward.
It leads to a tenderness.
When we go inward,
We try to unprogram our thoughts and our emotions so we can get to our hearts.
This is sometimes very difficult to do during times of stress.
Challenging relationship problems.
Being in negative cycles or in survival mode.
During these times,
We can lose track of our goodness,
And this leads to a contracted heart.
So this softening.
Is opening.
It requires practice and intention.
The goal of open-heartedness and love is to create spaciousness and a flow of energy.
Toward all the positives and goodness in our lives.
It helps us to see humans and everyone around us as deserving of love and kindness.
It helps us also to see them as selfless,
Honest,
Courageous.
We shift away from judgment and the limited perspectives we sometimes hold to one of acceptance,
Understanding,
And love.
When we commit to this well-being of others and ourselves.
By leading with love.
It helps all people feel seen and appreciated.
And it helps to remind them of their beauty.
We can become more loving by watering the seeds of joy and happiness in our hearts and in our lives.
This is the pathway that frees the heart.
You see peace,
Happiness,
And freedom already exist.
They're just waiting to be felt.
If we can pause and look for the positives in our lives with intention.
At any moment.
We could take notice of simple things that we're grateful for.
And that helps us to shift our energy towards goodness,
And it activates the pathways in our brain for empathy and love.
This is also called neuroplasticity.
It helps our practice grow stronger.
It's a rewiring when we replace negative thinking with a positive love and acceptance and kindness.
It starts to change the brain and change how we see things.
Is connecting with our own vulnerability and remembering that we all suffer is another gateway to love.
When we build on these qualities of an awakened heart called the Four Brahma Viharas in Buddhist teaching.
We expand four things.
Loving kindness.
Compassion.
Appreciative joy.
And equanimity.
And to talk a little bit about each one.
Loving kindness,
That's also known as metta in Pali.
Again,
That's the goodwill and friendship towards all beings without discrimination.
It's appreciating the beauty and mystery of life.
Compassion,
Also called karuna in Pali.
It involves caring and showing kindness for those that suffer.
And included in that is a deep desire to alleviate that suffering.
Appreciative joy,
Or mudita in Pali,
Is finding happiness in the good fortune and joy of others.
It means that you delight in the success of others.
And it also involves being so open that all the joys and sorrows of life can flow through you with fast awareness.
And lastly,
Equanimity,
Or upeka in Pali.
This just means having a balanced,
Stable mind that can remain calm and centered amidst life's ups and downs.
It involves having a deep sense of balance and wisdom.
So friends,
When you want to soften your heart,
And see the positives in life.
With a devoted sense and intention.
Just take a moment to remember.
That we're all in this together.
And if we're going to connect and become human beings caring for other human beings,
We have to start with ourselves.
It's very important also to love yourself,
To remain open-hearted.
That self-love has to be a prerequisite before you can truly love others.
This love in action requires humility.
Intention,
Mindfulness,
Balance.
And caring for yourself and others.
Thank you,
Friends.
