Hello dear friends,
Welcome to this meditation on Metta,
Which can be translated as loving kindness.
When I think of Metta,
I'm reminded of an internet meme titled,
True loving kindness practice.
And in this meme is a picture of a little girl hugging a plush animal.
The caption is,
This child is wishing for love and kindness to all the scary monsters in the world.
And she said it's because then they won't be scary monsters anymore.
I think this child sees very clearly that there is a golden Buddha in every scared or scary person,
Underneath layers of the world's debris.
In this Metta meditation,
I'll gently guide us in offering Metta to ourselves and slowly outward to others,
Clear of debris.
But the way out begins with him.
And so when you're ready,
Let yourself relax and give yourself the next 15 minutes to disengage from the future or past stories or worries.
And you can rest your hands anywhere away from technology or gadgets that might interrupt us from meditation time.
If it's comfortable,
You can settle your body in a relaxed yet alert position.
We're looking not to fall asleep,
Rather to fall awake.
And we'll start with a minute of concentration practice to help our mind settle and recenter in the present moment.
With your breathing natural,
See wearing your body you can feel the breath most easily.
It might be at the stomach or abdomen,
Or you can feel the rising and falling as the body breathes.
Maybe it's at the chest and shoulders as the body inhales and exhales.
Sometimes it's at the nose where you can feel cool air coming in and the subtle warmth as the body exhales.
Breathing in,
Just bring a gentle awareness to the breath.
Breathing out,
Be aware of the breath leaving the body.
And if you notice your mind wandering,
That's perfect.
Although a wandering mind might not be what we're hoping for,
Noticing it offers us an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness and concentration.
Each time we notice the mind wandering,
We're strengthening our ability to recognize our present experience.
Each time we bring the mind back to the breath,
We're choosing to strengthen our ability to concentrate.
These are perfect opportunities rather than problems.
And you can continue observing your breath in and out.
Great.
Now we'll begin the practice of offering words of love and care,
Known as metta in Buddhism.
We start by offering loving kindness to ourselves because the ability to love ourselves is crucial to being able to fully offer it to others.
Breathing gently,
You can silently repeat to yourself the following phrases you can say to yourself,
May I feel safe and loved.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be happy and content.
If accepting these wishes is difficult,
Try picturing yourself when you were a young child receiving this love and kindness.
If you could speak to yourself as a child you once were,
What would you say?
And you can offer the phrases again to your inner child,
May I feel safe and loved.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be happy and content.
In the next stage of the practice,
We send our well wishes to a benevolent being.
So letting go of wishing yourself well,
Bring to mind someone who has benefited you,
Who has been especially kind.
Those could be a loved one,
A friend,
A teacher or mentor,
Or even a beloved pet.
As this benevolent being comes to mind,
You can tune into your natural desire to see them happy,
Free from suffering,
And at ease with life.
You could begin offering them the same phrases of love and kindness,
May you feel safe and loved.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy and content.
And if you find your mind wandering into stories,
Worries or plans,
You can simply take note that it has happened and then return to the phrases holding the subject of your well wishing in your mind.
Again,
May you feel safe and loved.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy and content.
And you can let this being go and bring to mind a neutral person.
This is someone you see maybe regularly but don't know very well yet.
It might be someone who works somewhere you go,
A co-worker,
Someone you've seen in meetings,
Or maybe a neighbor.
Although you don't know this person well,
You can recognize it,
Just as you wish to be happy.
This person wants to be happy as well.
You don't need to know what their happiness looks like.
You're able to offer this person the phrases of love and kindness with just as much sincerity.
May you feel safe and loved.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy and content.
And now letting go of wishing this neutral being meta,
We move on to the next stage of the meta practice.
So think of someone whom you find difficult or toward whom you feel some resentment,
Hurt,
Or jealousy.
This might even be a friend that you've just had some disagreement with at the moment.
Again,
Offer the phrases of love and kindness,
Being aware that just as you wish to be happy and free from harm,
So do even the most troublesome or difficult people.
And you can say to this difficult person,
May you too feel safe and loved.
May you be free from suffering.
And may you be happy and content.
And like the little girl wishing love and kindness outward,
Our scary or difficult person wouldn't be so unskillful if they were truly safe and loved.
With a gentle reminder that all of us have been unskillful at times,
We may feel more at ease to offer meta to all beings.
From our heart space,
We can say to this difficult person again,
May you too feel safe and loved.
May you be free from suffering.
And may you be happy and content.
Alright.
And moving on from this difficult person,
We can continue expanding all of our wishes outward.
We'll spread out to include our family,
Our friends,
Our community.
We can send love to our city,
Our country,
And without giving anything up,
We can expand our well wishes to all beings on Earth.
And notice the immense depth and possibility of your own heart as you offer these phrases to everyone,
Everywhere.
May all beings feel safe and loved.
May we all be free from suffering.
May all beings be happy and content.
Great.
Now letting go of all thoughts of others,
Feel free to focus on your own body,
Mind,
And heart.
And see if you notice any discomfort,
Tension,
Or difficulty.
And also observe if you're experiencing any new lightness,
Relaxation,
Or joy.
And you can appreciate and cherish the fact that you've taken this time to cultivate positive,
Loving emotions by offering meta,
Growing your ability to respond to life and to those around you with care and understanding.
Thank you for your practice today.
