Okay,
So this meditation we'll start off first.
I'd like you to close your eyes,
Sit straight,
Keep your back straight.
You don't need to be too straight,
Just enough to be relaxed and you know you don't slouch.
And just take in a deep breath and exhale slowly and when you exhale just be present with your body.
You take another deep breath and when you exhale just feel your entire body relax.
Loosen up the body.
Notice any tension or tightness anywhere in the body from your top of your head to your hips of your toes.
Just relax.
Now I'd like you to put a small smile on your lips.
Yeah,
This is very important.
The smiling will help you to keep mindfulness going.
It will help to keep the mind uplifted and it will help you to tune into the loving kindness which is the primary object of meditation for this practice.
A small smile on your lips,
A little smile in your eyes,
A little smile in your heart.
Now you can use different phrases.
You can say,
May I be happy,
May I be well,
May I be filled with loving kindness.
In your mind,
You can use these phrases in your mind a couple of times,
Three or four times,
Until you feel something in your heart.
Or you can think about things that you're grateful for.
The children in your life,
The friends that you have,
The people and relationships that make you happy,
Whatever it is that you're grateful for.
That's one option.
Or another option is to think about and imagine a small little puppy or a kitten in front of you that you're holding them that you're holding them in your arms.
Or a cute chubby little smiling baby looking out at you.
You're holding them and you're smiling and giggling at you.
Or you could think about a wholesome memory.
It doesn't matter what it is,
As long as you feel a sense of upliftedness.
And you will experience a warmth,
A glowing warm sensation in your chest,
In the middle of your chest,
In your heart,
Your spiritual heart.
And I want you to just rest your awareness in that sensation,
In that feeling,
In the heart.
And that warm,
Glowing sensation is the beginning of loving-kindness.
You are sending loving-kindness to yourself.
Just settle into that and relax.
Now,
Inevitably,
While you're sitting here,
Your mind is going to go off in different directions.
And that's okay.
There are different distractions that come up and you just allow them to be there.
You might notice that your mind got caught up in that.
But this is the first step in bringing your mind back to a meditative state.
This is called recognize.
Recognize you are distracted.
Then you release your attention from it and come back to the mind and body.
You're anchoring your mind back to the present through the mind and body.
Then you relax.
Notice any tightness or tension anywhere in the body and relax.
You might notice that you're no longer smiling.
So check in and make sure that your smile is still there.
If it's not,
Be smiling.
And then come back to the blowing feeling in your heart and stay with it.
This is how you let go of distractions.
Recognize,
Oh,
My mind got distracted.
Release your attention.
Relax the mind and body.
Back to the smile and come back to the feeling of loving kindness.
This is a feeling meditation.
You want to stay rooted in the experience of loving kindness in your heart.
Rooted in the experience of loving kindness in your heart.
The mind gets distracted.
Recognize it.
Release your attention.
Relax the body.
Back to the smile.
Resmile.
Return back to the feeling of loving kindness.
What is a distraction?
A distraction is anything that takes your attention fully away from the feeling of loving kindness.
You notice thoughts in the background.
If you notice things are going on in the background,
You're still staying with the loving kindness.
There's nothing to do.
Keep your attention there.
But if the mind has wandered away completely from the feeling of loving kindness,
Use the six R's.
Recognize,
Release,
Relax,
Resmile,
And return.
Repeat whenever you get distracted.
Just come back to the feeling of loving kindness and stay there.
Now that you're basking in this feeling,
It's time to send it to a spiritual friend.
Spiritual friend,
That's translated from the word Kalyana Mitta.
Basically somebody that is a good friend of yours.
Somebody that you admire.
Somebody that you respect.
This friend cannot be a relative.
They must be alive and they have to be of the same sex.
So it can be anybody that you admire in the public life.
It can be somebody you know in your personal circle.
Whatever it is.
And I'd like you to,
If it helps,
Imagine your spiritual friend,
Whomever you choose,
Standing in front of you and smiling at you.
And now I would like you to direct that feeling of loving kindness in your heart to your spiritual friend.
If it helps,
You can say to that friend,
I want you to be happy.
I want you to be free of suffering.
I want you to be filled with loving kindness.
Or alternatives like,
May you be happy.
May you be free.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
And if you're unable to visualize the friend,
That's okay.
You can imagine a spiritual friend in your heart.
Imagine them,
A small little person in your heart,
Basking in the feeling of loving kindness.
And just stay with that feeling.
The intention is that this loving kindness is directed to your friend.
So let's do that now.
Again,
If your mind is distracted,
Your attention is completely away from the feeling of loving kindness towards your friend.
Recognize that.
Release your attention and bring it back to the awareness of mind and body.
Relax any tightness and tension.
Come back to your smile.
Come back to the feeling of loving kindness towards your friend.
Again,
If you get distracted,
Just recognize the distraction.
Mind is away from the object.
It's okay for the distraction to be there.
Recognize it.
Release your attention from that and get back to the mind and body and relax.
Come back to the smile.
Come back to the feeling of loving kindness towards your spiritual friend.
Distractions are not our enemies.
Just help us to see where the mind becomes attached.
Just allow them to be there.
They are our teachers.
It's okay for them to be there.
The more we try to push or control them,
The more they resist and come in many more numbers into our mind.
So,
The less you resist,
Stay present and okay with the distraction,
The less it's likely to create any tension in the mind.
The less it's likely to create any tension in the mind.
Just recognize,
Release your attention,
Relax mind and body.
We smile,
Return back your loving kindness and your spiritual friend.
Okay,
For the time being we're going to close this meditation session.
So,
I'd like you to just bring your awareness back to the body.
Relax and when you're ready,
Open your eyes back to here,
The room.
Thank you.
