Welcome to this opportunity to extend loving kindness and compassion to yourself and other living beings.
You're invited to welcome and accept whatever has brought you to this practice,
Allowing all that is here to be here.
Becoming comfortable in your chair or cushion,
Sitting with a relaxed but as erect as available posture,
Allowing the shoulders to be relaxed,
The hands to rest comfortably in your lap,
Allowing the eyes to have a soft unfocused gaze or perhaps to be closed,
Settling into awareness of the body and the breath.
In this practice,
You may experience emotions.
Be open to experience whatever arises and allowing it as it happens,
Feeling into your body right now,
Noticing what's here,
Being open to whatever is being experienced in the body in this moment,
Connecting to the sits bones,
Perhaps the feet,
Perhaps your breath,
Noticing how the breath goes in and out without needing to be told what to do.
In this practice,
You are cultivating unconditional friendliness,
Also known as loving kindness.
We all have this within us,
This natural capacity,
The sense of friendship that is open,
Gentle,
And supportive.
Now,
Allowing yourself to remember and be open to your basic goodness.
You might remember times you have been kind or generous.
You might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer.
If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult,
Consider looking at yourself in the eyes of someone who cares for and loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Or you may recall the unconditional love or you may recall the unconditional love you felt from a beloved pet.
It may help to use the imagination,
Perhaps picturing yourself as a young child standing before you,
Perhaps at the age of four or five,
If that allows tender feelings of kindness to flow more easily.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth or warmth in the face,
Perhaps a smile,
A sense of expansiveness.
These are sensations of loving kindness,
This natural feeling that is always accessible to all of us.
Resting with this feeling of open,
Unconditional love for a few moments,
For a few moments,
Letting yourself bask in the energy of loving kindness,
Breathing it in,
Breathing it out,
Inviting feelings of peace and acceptance.
So beginning now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving kindness to yourself.
I'll be offering as guidance the phrases that I use in my own practice,
And you're invited to use whatever words express your wishes of loving kindness toward yourself and others.
I invite you to say aloud or to yourself each phrase in the pause after I say it.
May I be safe,
Free from inner and outer harm.
May I be healthy,
Free from pain and suffering.
May I be happy,
Filling with joy and gratitude.
May I live with ease.
Now you can open the circle of loving kindness by bringing to mind someone who is dear to you,
Someone whom you care about and who has always been supportive.
Bring that person to mind now,
Reflecting on this person's basic goodness,
Sensing what it is in particular that you love about him or her.
In your heart,
Feeling your appreciation for this dear one,
And with that person in mind,
Begin your simple offering,
Repeating after me.
May you be safe,
Free from inner and outer harm.
May you be healthy,
Free from pain and suffering.
May you be happy,
Filling with joy and gratitude.
May you live with ease.
Now you can widen the circle of loving kindness even further by bringing to mind someone you're familiar with,
Someone you might see from time to time but don't know well.
Bring this person to mind now and repeat the words of loving kindness after me.
May you be safe,
Free from inner and outer harm.
May you be healthy,
Free from pain and suffering.
May you be happy,
Filling with joy and gratitude.
May you live with ease.
And now,
If it's possible for you,
Bring to mind someone you know with whom you've had or are having a difficult relationship.
Perhaps it's someone you don't like to feel sympathy or compassion for.
Seeing if it's possible to let go of feelings of resentment and dislike for this person,
Despite any reasons or hurts you may carry.
Reminding yourself to see this person as a whole being,
A human,
Just like you,
Deserving of love and kindness.
As someone who feels pain and anxiety.
As someone who also suffers.
Seeing if it's possible to extend to this person the words of loving kindness,
Repeating after me.
May you be safe,
Free from inner and outer harm.
May you be healthy,
Free from pain and suffering.
May you be happy,
Filling with joy and gratitude.
May you live with ease.
Now allowing your awareness to open out in all directions,
To yourself,
A dear one,
An acquaintance,
Out to any and all beings,
Humans and all living things everywhere.
Those living in richness or poverty,
In war or peace,
In hunger or abundance.
With awareness of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience,
Repeat after me.
May all beings be safe,
Free from inner and outer harm.
May all beings be healthy,
Free from pain and suffering.
May all beings be happy,
Filling with joy and gratitude.
May all beings live with ease.
And now,
Bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend loving kindness to yourself.
Sitting for a while and basking in the energy of loving kindness that may have been generated here by you in your practice.
At the sound of the bells,
May you find the energy remains even as the rings fade.
