Loving Kindness Meditation Metta by Sassi Kakache.
The script.
Find a comfortable position in which to sit for this period.
As you allow your eyes to gently close,
Tune into your body and make any minor adjustments.
It can be helpful to remember our intentions of both ease and awareness.
Sit in a way that feels comfortable but alert.
We will start with a few minutes of concentration practice,
Just to help our mind settle and arrive in our present time experience.
As you allow the body to resume to natural breathing,
See where in the body you can feel the breath.
It may be in your stomach or abdomen,
Where you can feel the rising and falling as the body breathes.
It may be in the chest,
Where you may notice the expansion and contraction as the body inhales and exhales.
Perhaps it's at the nostrils,
Where you can feel a slight tickle as the air comes in.
And a subtle warmth as the body exhales.
You can pick up one spot to stick with for the meditation practice.
As you feel the body breathing,
Try to stay with the breath all the way through.
Stick with it from the beginning of the inhale all the way through the end of the exhale.
You may have noticed the mind wandering.
When the mind wanders,
It really offers us an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness and concentration.
Each time we notice the mind wandering,
We are strengthening our ability to recognize our experience.
Each time we bring the mind back to the breath,
We are strengthening our ability to focus on an object.
So treat it as an opportunity rather than a problem.
And return to the breath.
You can begin the practice by bringing to mind yourself as you sit here right now.
Try to connect with your own deepest intentions for happiness.
Ease and safety.
You do not need to dive into stories of what will make you happy.
But connect with the natural desire you have.
You can cultivate this intention to open the heart to your own well-being by silently offering yourself some phrases of metta.
In your head.
Slowly,
Offer yourself the phrases May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
You can offer these phrases silently in your head,
Saying them slowly enough that you can connect with their meaning and intention behind them.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
You can now bring to mind a good friend.
This may be a loved one,
A friend,
A teacher or mentor,
Or maybe a pet.
You can connect with your natural desire to see this person happy and at ease.
Just like you,
This person wants to be happy,
To feel safe and to be healthy.
In an effort to cultivate this intention of kindness,
You can offer this person a few phrases of metta.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
You can let this person go from your mind and bring to mind a neutral person.
This is someone you see,
Maybe regularly,
But don't know very well.
It may be somebody who works somewhere you go a lot,
A co-worker,
Or maybe a neighbor.
Although you don't know this person well,
You can recognize that this person wants to be happy as well.
You don't need to know what their happiness looks like necessarily.
Again,
Offer this person the phrases of loving kindness,
Connecting with the intention to care about their well-being.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
And as you let this neutral person go,
You can bring to mind somebody who you find difficult.
You may not want to pick the most difficult person in your life.
Instead,
Choose someone who is minorly difficult.
Maybe it is someone you find yourself agitated with,
Or annoyed by.
You can offer the phrases of metta,
Recognizing that this is connecting with your intention to care for this person.
Although you may not mean it wholeheartedly,
You can make an effort with some metta phrases.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
When you are ready,
Gently bring your attention back to your body,
The touch of your body on your seat,
And take the last moment to fully feel this loving-kindness feeling within yourself.
When you are ready,
Slowly open up your eyes.
Assume the commitment to bring feelings of metta to the rest of your day.
