A Short Meditation From Working With Our Enemies

What if my own heart were big enough to see the humanity in each person, and bow just to that? Not to their mistakes, their selfishness, their crimes. Just to their humanity. What if we could all do that? What would the law look like? How about the world?

Transcript

So finding a comfortable posture,

A way that is supportive of yourself,

Support yourself,

Give yourself a few minutes.

And let's just do a little metta practice for ourselves.

So taking,

Maybe putting the hand on the heart,

Taking a couple of deep and conscious breaths,

And then calling into this moment,

Someone in your life you adore and they adore you and there's no issue,

There's no problem.

So it could be a pet,

Could be a dog or a cat or a rabbit or any fur companion.

I did a day-long retreat with my Berkeley students on Saturday and one student brought her stuffy.

So if it's a stuffy,

It can be a stuffy,

Could be a religious figure,

A saint,

Mother Mary,

Jesus,

Could be a grandma,

Sibling.

And just let yourself relax into that field of love that is between you and this other being.

Seeing them before you,

Loving you and seeing yourself in their eyes,

You loving them.

And let that love create a kind of force field around you,

Around your body,

A field of love and let it seep in through your pores,

Into the inside of the body,

Like a sense of warmth or like a gentle rain.

And then with the hand at the heart or the belly,

Or whatever is best for you right now,

Just saying to yourself,

May I be safe.

May I be safe from inner and outer harm.

This is my birthright.

As a human,

As another being on the planet,

To be safe from inner and outer harm.

And may I have well-being,

Physical well-being,

Physical well-being.

Even if I'm struggling with a health issue,

Dealing with a health issue,

Still may I have well-being in my body,

In my mind,

In my heart,

Mental,

Physical,

Emotional well-being.

They're all the same.

May I have well-being and may I be happy.

May I have happiness in each moment.

May I have happiness in my day.

May I have happiness in my life.

May I be happy.

And may I live with ease.

May I live with ease.

♪ Bells ringing ♪