I invite you to find a comfortable seat wherever you are and to sit with your back a little bit straighter than it normally might be with the top of your head facing evenly up to the ceiling or the sky.
You can close your eyes or have your eyes be partially open with a soft gaze looking ahead of you.
And if you'd like,
You can start this meditation with your hand on your heart and if you'd rather not,
That is fine as well.
We begin this loving kindness meditation with the most important person in our lives,
Which is ourselves.
In Buddhism,
We sometimes say that we are the author of our lives.
And so let's begin here.
Repeat these phrases silently to yourself,
So not out loud,
But in your mind's eye,
But really take in the full meaning of these words.
Really think about them and bring them into your heart.
May I be happy today.
May I be peaceful.
May I live today with ease.
It is so easy to be kind to others,
Friends or family or even strangers.
But what if we brought in,
Really brought in and took in that same amount of kindness to ourselves?
Because we deserve this.
I deserve this.
May I be happy today.
May I feel peaceful.
May I live today with ease.
And now I invite you to bring to mind someone who it's easy for you to love.
It might be a parent or a child,
A teacher,
A mentor,
A friend,
Could even be a pet,
Somebody in your life now or from your past.
Let's just choose the first person that comes to mind.
And imagine this person sitting in front of you right here,
Right now,
And you're looking at them and they're looking back at you.
And you say from your heart to their heart,
May you be happy today.
You this person I adore,
Who accepts me for me,
Warts and all.
May you be peaceful.
And may you live today with ease.
I truly wish from my heart to your heart.
May you be happy today.
May you feel peaceful.
May you live today with ease.
And now I invite you to bring to mind someone who plays a bit of a neutral role in your life and you in theirs.
It could be someone you get a coffee or tea from in the morning,
A green juice,
A snack.
It could be someone who delivers mail or packages to you.
Perhaps someone you see in your neighborhood or on the subway or the bus and you probably don't even know this person's name,
But you're in a way playing the role of an extra in their life and they in yours.
And so now we can bring this person to mind and imagine that they're sitting in front of us.
And we realize that they have a full consciousness and hopes and dreams and good days and bad days just like we do.
And we can wish them this,
May you be happy today.
You this person who plays a role in my life,
Even though I may not even know your name,
May you be peaceful.
And I truly wish you this.
Whatever your day brings,
May you live today with ease.
I now realize we share so much in common.
We have full lives around us,
Even though I don't know much about yours and might never have thought about it before this moment,
But may you be happy today.
I truly wish you this,
May you feel peaceful.
And as a fellow human alive at the same time that I am,
May you live today with ease.
And now bring to mind someone who's a bit difficult for you,
It doesn't need to be a true enemy,
But somewhat a little challenging perhaps in your extended group of friends or at work or a family member,
Even a distant family member.
And with full sincerity,
We can at least send them this as you imagine this person sitting in front of you right here right now.
May you be happy today.
You even this person a little bit difficult for me to deal with.
May you feel peaceful.
And may you live today with ease.
Even though we don't always get along,
I can wish you the best again as a fellow human living at the same time as me.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you live today with ease.
And now I invite you to bring to mind everybody living in the same apartment or office building or wherever you are,
If you're in a home,
Perhaps on your street.
And then hold in your mind's eye everyone in your city or if you're in a rural area,
Everyone in your region.
And then everyone in your state or county.
And then expand out to think about everyone in your country.
Everyone on your continent.
And then hold in your mind's eye all living creatures,
Everyone alive today with a heartbeat around the world.
And you can include birds and reptiles,
All animals.
People from every country on earth.
In New Zealand on the Ivory Coast.
In Bangladesh and Iceland.
In Japan.
In India.
All living creatures around the world.
And as we hold them in our mind's eye,
We send them these wishes.
May you be happy today.
Wherever in the world you are,
May you feel peaceful.
And may you live today with ease.
And then I invite you to zoom in a little bit and think about everyone on your continent.
Everyone in your country.
Everyone in your state or county.
Everyone in your neighborhood.
In your building,
Wherever you are.
And then back to yourself.
The most important person in your life.
And you deserve this.
I deserve this,
You can say to yourself.
May I be happy.
May I feel peaceful.
May I be healthy and strong.
May I be safe and free from danger.
And may I live today with ease.
