Hello,
I'm John Moore and this is Loving-Kindness Meditation.
Loving-Kindness Meditation,
Also known as Metta,
Consists of a number of recitations.
So in a moment,
I'm going to say several phrases to you and you're to repeat these.
You can repeat them silently and really to yourself.
You can repeat them aloud,
Whichever works for you.
Unlike prayers,
These recitations are not pleas for help or asking for divine guidance or wisdom.
These are meant to generate a feeling of love and kindness inside yourself.
So they're directed inwardly as opposed to outwardly and the whole point of Loving-Kindness Meditation,
As you might guess,
Is to generate this feeling of love and kindness for yourself,
For others in your life,
And for the world in general.
So I'd like to begin.
I will begin by sitting in a comfortable position,
But let's keep the spine straight and the head elevated.
You can place your hands in your lap or on your knees,
Whatever is comfortable for you.
And just close your eyes gently or you can leave them open but have soft eyes.
So I'm just going to begin by breathing in and out.
Pay attention on the breath for a few short moments just to gather the attention.
The first set of recitations are towards yourself.
Okay?
And what I'd like you to do is again repeat after me either inwardly,
Silently,
Or outwardly,
Spoken aloud.
And just feel the feeling that arises as you say these phrases.
And for now,
It's fine to repeat them once,
But in the future,
If you practice this on your own,
You may want to repeat each phrase,
You know,
From three to four times.
Here's the first set of recitations.
May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger.
May I be safe and protected.
May I be free of mental suffering or distress.
May I be happy.
May I be free of physical pain and suffering.
May I be healthy and strong.
May I be able to live in this world happily,
Peacefully,
Joyfully,
With ease.
And now I'd like you to bring someone to mind who is somebody who you deeply love.
Maybe it's a child or a parent or a spouse or other loved one,
But somebody for whom you're loving feelings.
Imagine them as best you can in front of you smiling and happy.
And we're going to begin another set of recitations.
So imagine you're speaking to this person and you say,
May you be free from inner and outer harm and danger.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be free of mental suffering or distress.
May you be happy.
May you be free of physical pain and suffering.
May you be healthy and strong.
May you be able to live in this world happily,
Peacefully,
Joyfully,
With ease.
And now I'd like you to imagine as best you can somebody in front of you for whom you hold neutral feelings.
So maybe somebody you interact with on a day-to-day basis but don't have strong feelings about.
And we're going to begin the next set of recitations.
May you be free from inner and outer harm and danger.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be free from mental suffering or distress.
May you be happy.
May you be free of physical pain and suffering.
May you be healthy and strong.
May you be able to live in this world happily,
Peacefully,
Joyfully,
With ease.
Great.
Now I'd like you to imagine somebody in front of you for whom you do not hold loving feelings currently.
Maybe somebody you've had trouble with in your past.
Maybe somebody who's actually caused you harm.
And imagine them as best you can sitting in front of you smiling and happy.
And again we'll begin the recitation.
May you be free from inner and outer harm and danger.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be free from mental suffering or distress.
May you be happy.
May you be free of physical pain and suffering.
May you be healthy and strong.
May you be able to live in this world happily,
Peacefully,
Joyfully,
With ease.
And just pay attention to what feelings these recitations have engendered in you.
Hopefully there's a growing feeling of loving kindness.
You might feel it as a warmth or comfort or happiness or other positive sensation.
And now we'll extend our attention to the entire universe in whatever way that makes sense to you.
You can picture it or just get a sense of being in the universe.
And we're going to direct our recitation at all beings in the universe.
May all beings be free from inner and outer harm and danger.
May all beings be safe and protected.
May all beings be free from mental suffering or distress.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be free of physical pain and suffering.
May all beings be healthy and strong.
May all beings be able to live in this world happily,
Peacefully,
Joyfully,
With ease.
And with that the recitation is concluded.
Stay here for a moment breathing and get in touch with the feeling of loving kindness that you've generated.
And the more you do this meditation,
Now if you do it once a day for a while,
The more this feeling will grow.
The more you'll be at peace in the world.
The more your relationships will be smoother and at ease.
And with that,
May you be happy.
