This is a loving-kindness meditation,
A meditation that helps us to open our hearts to our own wish to be happy and safe and at peace and also to send wishes of kindness and love to all beings in all directions.
This practice is a very valuable one in helping us to open to the difficult and contracted places in ourselves and allowing us to be present with our own experience just as it is.
It also helps us to open our hearts to others,
To friends,
To loved ones,
To difficult people,
To all beings and realise that we all want to be happy,
To be safe,
To be free from suffering.
So to begin this meditation please find a comfortable relaxed posture on your cushion or bench or chair or lying down if you choose to.
Allow your attention to come into the body,
Aware of the breath,
In breath and out breath,
Aware of any bodily sensations that are noticeable.
You might bring a half smile to the corners of the mouth and the eyes and bring your attention to the heart area.
You might if you like put your hand in that area,
Feeling the warmth of your hand and your heart on your chest,
Feeling this life pulsing through you.
And in this meditation we traditionally use words or phrases and I'm going to use some phrases and you can repeat these quietly,
Silently to yourself or substitute your own words or phrases that resonate more with you.
We begin traditionally with ourselves because it's very difficult to open our hearts to others,
If we can't first open our hearts to our own difficulties and challenges,
Our own suffering,
Bringing kindness and compassion to our own experience.
So using these phrases all your own,
Connecting in with the breath in the heart area.
May I be surrounded by love and kindness.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be happy and at ease.
Connecting with those words and the feelings in the body,
The felt sense in the body,
You can connect with that.
Reflecting on your wish to be happy,
To be safe,
To be free of suffering.
And extending those wishes to another person,
Perhaps somebody you've had some difficulty with.
Reflecting on that person's wish to be happy,
To be safe,
To be free of suffering.
Connecting again with the heart area and using these phrases all your own.
May you be surrounded by love and kindness.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy and at ease.
And extending these wishes in all directions to all beings.
Above and below.
In all directions.
Beings of all kinds.
May you be surrounded by love and kindness.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy and at ease.
Please feel free to continue this meditation after the bell is rung.
You might bring to mind individuals and beings and send wishes in their direction.
Wishes of kindness,
Love,
For peace and wellbeing.
And as much as possible keeping your awareness in the body,
In the felt sense in the body.
May all beings everywhere know deep and lasting peace.
