At the end of these long 10 day vipassana retreats,
On the last day they teach you a form of meditation called metta.
Metta meditation.
Metta is described as loving kindness.
It is a practice to become better friends with ourselves.
It is used after vipassana meditation because if there is any past karma or old wounds that arise through the vipassana practice,
You can then soothe yourself with the metta.
It's like putting a bandaid on and really just allowing yourself to be in a state of love,
Loving kindness and awareness.
We begin metta first with ourselves.
This is the essential foundation of offering genuine love to others.
The practice develops in different levels.
So we begin with myself,
Then a benefactor or someone that we admire,
Look up to,
A teacher maybe,
Then a friend,
A neutral person,
All the way working up to an enemy or a conflicting person in our life.
Through these levels we learn not to denigrate ourselves to uphold another person's happiness.
We learn how important it is to send love and kindness to ourselves first so that we can be in a place to send love out to others.
Close your eyes and center to the breath.
Relax the eyes,
Relax the jaw,
Relax the back of the neck.
And now contact a sense of love and compassion within yourself.
Imagine that love washing over your entire body.
What does it look like?
Does it have a color?
A temperature?
Now imagine sending yourself that love.
Send that love to every cell of your body.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be full of peace.
Now imagine a very close friend,
A lover,
A partner,
Or a teacher.
Someone who brings about a great sense of love within you.
Imagine sending the metta,
The loving kindness,
To him or her.
May he or she be happy,
Be well,
And full of peace.
Now call to mind another friend,
Someone that you would love to send love to.
May he or she be happy,
Well,
And full of peace.
And now imagine a person that you're neutral about.
Someone maybe you don't know very well.
Maybe someone you just passed on the street or met recently.
Imagine that person sending love.
May he or she be happy,
And well,
And full of peace.
Now imagine a person who has caused conflict in your life.
The ultimate idea of metta is to hold a place of loving kindness even for,
And especially for,
These people.
So call to mind someone who has caused conflict in your life.
Imagine sending this person love.
May he or she be happy,
Be well,
And be full of peace.
Through metta,
We learn to walk in friendship with ourselves and with all beings.
We are planting the seeds that will bear fruit with time.
We are opening to the love within us.
And as we do that,
We open to the love all around us.
When we extend the force of love,
Love will return to us.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
Bring your hands to your heart and bow.
Namaste.
