Let's go back towards the practice.
And we do that by first finding ourselves in space,
Noticing the position of our body,
Noticing our contact with the ground,
And allowing our attention to rest in that area of contact.
Noticing the sensations and starting the process of gradual physical relaxation there.
And this time we're going to do a more deliberate,
More elaborate body scan by first attending to our feet and toes.
Noticing the sensations and releasing tension there.
And then our calves and the area around our knees,
Our thighs,
The hips,
And the abdominal area.
Just noticing the sensations there,
Softening the abdomen,
And then the chest and the shoulders,
The elbows,
Forearms,
And then spending some time with our hands and fingers once again.
And then the back of our head,
The crown,
And the face.
Then reestablishing the positive,
Vast,
And profound motivation for this practice.
And surrounding ourselves with tender,
Caring,
Warm-hearted awareness.
It's as if we,
As the meditator in this case,
Are simply the spacious,
Warm-hearted awareness.
And within the space of this spacious awareness,
Within its expanse,
Is this person sitting here,
Practicing here.
So we attend to this person with care,
With tenderness.
And then we allow this tenderness to crystallize into loving-kindness.
May I be happy and have the causes of happiness.
Projecting that wish,
Allowing it to flow from the depths of our being so that it saturates every aspect of our body and every aspect of our mind,
Returning to it again and again when our mind gets distracted.
Strengthen the habit.
Strengthen the positive pattern.
May I have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Among the five elements,
Loving-kindness is associated with the element of water.
So it's as if there's a gentle flow of this wish filling us to the brim,
Supercharged with this wish.
And our resting is punctuated by the verbal wish itself.
We only need it to keep our awareness focused in the proper manner,
But still allow it to re-arise,
Reappear in our mind again and again.
Even though eventually we would go beyond the need for such things.
Simply able to rest in loving-kindness in a less conceptual manner.
And then as the next stage,
We think of a beloved benefactor,
A respected friend,
Someone who is preferably still alive,
Still active in this world,
Someone who evokes our feelings of respect,
Gratitude,
Admiration.
And we imagine this person in front of us.
Doesn't matter how detailed our visualization is,
Doesn't matter what they look like in particular,
Or what they're dressed as.
It's more simply bringing their presence to mind and first holding them in tender,
Caring,
Warm-hearted awareness with an element of empathy,
Knowing that they also want to be happy,
To flourish,
To be of benefit.
And then allowing that to crystallize into may you be happy,
Or may you be happy and have the causes of happiness.
And no expectations.
May you be happy and flourish in all the ways,
But not because I'm going to be in the picture in any way,
Necessarily.
So once again allowing this flow of loving-kindness to fill them to the brim.
Meaning that right now all we wish is for them to be happy and to have the causes of genuine well-being.
Then bringing our attention back to the body,
Dedicating the energy of the practice mentally,
And reintroducing some movement.
