The purpose of this guided meditation is to cultivate peace,
Loving-kindness,
Friendship,
And acceptance in ourselves and others.
It is based upon a series of traditional phrases that I will ask you to repeat silently to yourself.
They are usually about six in number.
If you are interested in learning more about this practice,
It is often referred to in the languages of ancient India as Metta in Pali and as Maitri in Sanskrit.
I will list these phrases now so you have an idea what they are going to be,
And then a little bit later I will ask you to repeat them with very slight modifications along the way.
The first phrase is,
May I be safe.
The second,
May I be peaceful.
The third,
May I be kind to myself.
Fourth,
May I accept myself as I am.
Fifth,
May I be happy.
And sixth,
May I be free.
Every meditation practice requires a brief period of time in a quiet place to sit without interruption and distraction.
For this moment and for this place,
Let's take a moment to get comfortable in a sitting position that is strong and balanced with our backs straight.
We can sit in a chair with our two feet flat on the floor and solid,
Or we can sit down in a comfortable position on a floor cushion.
We then relax and peacefully close our eyes and softly close our lips without quenching our teeth.
As we sit,
We pull in the muscles around our waist and lower back to create more stability and lift in our posture.
We also relax our shoulders down and raise our chest so our lungs and hearts have plenty of room to expand.
We relax our faces and jaws.
We also relax our hands.
We sit with respect for ourselves and for those we care about and love.
I will begin the series of phrases now,
And all you have to do is repeat the words you hear silently while also dedicating yourself with a strong and loving intention to accept the truth,
Calm,
And compassion they offer you.
Your mind will naturally wander away from this focus and this repetition,
And that's okay.
But notice where your mind wanders,
Forgive it,
And then return to listening and repeating the words to yourself.
Okay,
Here we go.
We begin by extending safety,
Peace,
Kindness,
Acceptance,
Happiness,
And freedom to ourselves.
Just repeat each sentence within the silent cathedral of your own mind.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful.
May I be kind to myself.
May I accept myself as I am.
May I be happy.
And may I be free.
Next we extend these powers to someone we care about deeply.
It could be a family member or a spouse or a good friend.
Picture this person in your mind now,
And as you repeat what I say,
Comfort this person with your words.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May you be kind to yourself.
May you accept yourself as you are.
May you be happy.
And may you be free.
Next,
We extend these powers to someone we may be troubled by.
This is a person who we know and have a relationship with,
Likely through no choice of our own.
Perhaps it is a family member or a relative or someone we work with or met at school.
It may even be someone we regularly encounter through social media or in the news.
Picture this person in your mind now and surround this person with your repetition of these friendly concerns.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May you be kind to yourself.
May you accept yourself as you are.
May you be happy.
May you be free.
Next,
We extend these powers to a group of people who we know are in unfortunate circumstances,
Much worse than our own.
These may be those who suffer due to poverty or illness or abuse,
Or they may be refugees who are afraid and homeless,
Or they may be children who are powerless to improve their circumstances.
Open your mind very widely and picture these people now and repeat these phrases silently to extend comfort to them.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May you be kind to yourself.
May you accept yourself as you are.
May you be happy.
May you be free.
Next,
We extend these powers to all of humanity.
This may require an even stronger imagination and larger heart to envision the entire population of the world,
The entire human race,
Every member of our human family,
Of every description.
But try to put into your mind a picture of all people standing together,
Including yourself.
Repeat these phrases now.
May we be safe.
May we be peaceful.
May we be kind to ourselves.
May we accept ourselves as we are.
May we be happy.
May we all be free.
Okay let's do that again,
But let's also imagine that everyone is also repeating these words with us,
The entire human chorus saying together the following.
May we be safe.
May we be peaceful.
May we be kind to ourselves.
May we accept ourselves as we are.
May we be happy.
May we all be free.
And because this has taken so much individual concentration,
Strength,
Imagination,
And compassion,
We return to extend these powers again to ourselves so that we can build the stamina of love we need in all of our relationships with others,
Intimate and less so,
Close and far away.
So let's repeat these words one more time.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful.
May I be kind to myself.
May I accept myself as I am.
May I be happy.
And may I be free.
Thank you.
If this guided practice has generated for you a more confident sense of safety,
Peace,
Kindness,
Acceptance,
Happiness,
And freedom,
Just return to it anytime you wish for those powers again,
Especially when you feel overwhelmed with stress,
Isolation,
Panic,
Or fear.
These words were given to us by those who came before to heal our suffering and to strengthen our ability to be of benefit to others who are also suffering from the same negative thoughts and feelings.
Ultimately,
Our freedom from fear and pain is found in relieving the fear and pain of others.
