A Meditation From Choosing To Befriend Everyone

It’s a conundrum to me when I imagine befriending everyone. How would that even work in the law? Even more challenging, how can I learn to relate to my frustration and grief with friendliness? When all I really want is for it to stop? And yet this is the path of the warrior.

What a paradox.

Transcript

So taking a posture that's supportive for you right now and also upright,

That kind of seated warrior pose,

If you will,

Where your own aspirational qualities,

Your own dedication to being deliberate about this quality of friendliness where that can be lifted up,

Where you can lift that up.

Where your body can lift it up.

And sitting with this,

Yeah,

This ferocity that I think many of us are already familiar with in our practice as lawyers,

Yeah?

So can we bring that practice to our cushion,

Our proverbial cushion,

To our seat,

To our mindfulness?

Thanks.

And how does that feel?

Can we turn towards first that sense of warrior-ness or ferocity that we have?

Can we first turn towards that with friendliness?

Maybe noticing that this quality has served us,

This deliberateness that we have no compunction,

Or at least I never had any compunction about bringing it into my work as a lawyer.

So can we bring it here?

And yet the quality is friendliness.

So balancing that ferocity,

It's a ferocious friendliness.

Maybe that's a way.

And if the mind wanders,

If we get lost,

Thought or emotion takes us over,

Where is that friendliness,

That deliberate friendliness towards the wandering mind,

Towards the difficult emotions?

Maybe a little like being an advocate for ourselves,

An advocate for friendliness,

But also that the friendliness itself is on the side of whatever our experience is,

That loyalty to experience that Pema talks about,

Loyalty to present moment experience,

Whatever it is.

And then just taking a few intentional breaths,

Not to let go of that sense of loyalty or the deliberate friendliness,

But just to connect with your environment and with the next steps that you are going to be taking.

Thank you.