Welcome friend.
I'm so delighted you're here and are ready and willing to whatever capacity join me in this practice where we'll intentionally be exercising our minds and hearts and by extension our bodies in goodness.
In a world where we're so often pulled towards judgment,
Anger,
Hatred,
Ill-will,
Jealousy,
Frustration,
Resentment.
Goodness becomes the antidote.
So let's begin.
Let's take the next few moments here to arrive in our bodies.
Finding a comfortable position for our bodies to rest in awareness.
Feeling that sense of the body being held in comfort.
And for the mind and heart to be held in wakefulness.
So there's this relaxed alertness that we can learn to attune to and that is necessary to nurture and cultivate when we're engaging in practices like this.
So maybe allowing there to be a soft smile on your face.
And perhaps this can be the entry point to goodness.
And we could also explore resting our hands somewhere on the core of our body,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Solar plexus.
And having this be another entry point into experiencing goodness.
We can also orientate,
Begin orientating to the breath in our body.
Maybe where it exists and moves underneath the hands.
Or at the center of our being.
And as we intentionally rest our attention there,
We may notice how this supports the mind and heart in this process of settling and centering.
And in doing so,
We can get in touch again with that inherent goodness.
So perhaps we may notice and be experiencing that awareness itself is intertwined,
Is completely infused,
Immersed in goodness.
And goodness has these characteristics of warmth,
Comfort,
Gentleness,
Openness,
Relaxation.
Can we welcome ourselves fully into this space where goodness is palpable?
And can we nurture it?
Mindful moment by mindful moment with each loving touch of awareness on this breath,
On these sounds,
On this sense of the body and all the sensations contained within it.
Can we feel how this awareness arouses a goodness in our minds and hearts?
And how it touches all things that come into contact with it?
And what if we became skilled at goodness?
Skilled in abiding in this energy of goodness?
How would our lives be different?
Our relationships,
Our sense of fulfillment,
Our purpose?
So let's maybe connect to the support of a simple phrase of maybe skilled in goodness.
May I become skilled in goodness.
May this mind,
Heart,
And body of mine be filled with goodness.
Meeting all things with its essence.
If it's helpful,
You can imagine yourself going out into the world or just standing outside in nature in the neighborhood you live in and radiating goodness in all directions.
In front of you,
To the right of you,
Behind you,
To the left of you,
Above you,
In all directions.
Radiating goodness.
Spreading goodness.
And simply returning to goodness.
Each and every time you notice that it's been taken over,
Pasted over by some other experience.
More often that experience is thoughts.
And those thoughts don't always have the origin of goodness.
They have a tendency to be fueled by some form of desire,
Aversion,
Longing,
Wanting,
Wishing,
Planning,
Fixing,
Striving.
And then touching that with goodness.
This quality of goodness that's being aroused within your own being and noticing the relief in that.
Wish others to also become skilled in goodness,
To feel its essence and presence in their lives in this very moment.
Maybe it's what interrupts a harmful act,
A harmful thought,
That moment of wisdom.
What if the entire world was full of human beings who are masters at goodness?
Can we feel the possibility of that?
Arouses even more goodness in our own hearts and minds.
Breathes life into the body.
So those we care about,
May we wish them to know goodness and to become skilled in relating to themselves and the world around them with goodness.
And can we include those that we like but don't know well and wishing them the same?
To know goodness and to be moved by it.
And those individuals in our lives that we can admit humbly to ourselves that it's hard and challenging at times to maintain this sense of goodness in our own hearts,
In their presence,
Whether physically or just even upon thought of this being.
Can we first acknowledge those beings and then also extend the sincere wish for them to know and be touched by goodness and to go about their lives with the spirit of goodness alive in their hearts?
And let's take a moment to bask in the peace that goodness brings.
A peace to our own unsettled and often agitated minds,
Hearts,
And bodies.
So may goodness become a vehicle for peace and for freedom from suffering.
Before we come to a closing of this practice,
Just a very loving reminder that there's no ending to this practice.
And that it can be a very useful,
Helpful practice to take a moment to just reflect on how this quality of goodness can be brought forth into the moments preceding this formal exercise we've just done in nurturing goodness.
Maybe we can carry it with us in our steps from point A to point B to point C,
D,
E.
Maybe it can be brought into the next interaction we have.
Maybe we can call it forth in how we're looking upon the world through our eyes or how we're sensing the world through our sense of hearing or touch or smell or taste.
It all can be met with goodness.
And more broadly,
How can we bring it into our life?
Having this quality be the framework at which we perceive the world and operate from.
So,
Sweet one,
May we all become skilled at goodness.
May you,
May I,
May all beings be touched by goodness again and again and again.
Thank you for your practice.
