Hi,
I'm Mike Trabisano.
This meditation is a version of a loving-kindness or Metta meditation.
To begin,
Find a comfortable way to be,
Either sitting or lying down,
Whatever feels most natural and supportive is perfectly fine.
This meditation starts with a question.
What state of heart,
If you had more of it,
Would genuinely help you?
Maybe it's to feel less anxious or stressed or worried.
Maybe it's to feel less sad or depressed.
Maybe it's to feel more energy or motivation or to have courage.
Whatever it is for you in the most real way is the way to go.
Maybe it's big and simple,
Just like,
I wish I was okay.
I wish I felt loved.
Go real.
What would truly help you right at this moment?
Instead of making it a wish about things like a billion dollars,
Keep the wish a state of heart,
A state of being.
Now,
Very simply,
As earnestly as you can,
Just wish for it.
I wish I was okay.
I wish I didn't feel so anxious.
I wish I didn't feel so depressed.
Don't worry about feeling anything different in making the wish.
Just simply whisper it out into the air or in your mind.
Just wish for it.
Now,
Call to mind someone you absolutely love.
Somebody,
The moment you think of them,
Your heart seems to grow in size and glow a little bit.
Someone who just lives in there.
Your very best bestie.
It can be anyone.
It can be a family member,
Or a partner,
Or a dog,
Or a cat.
Make it a slam dunk.
Somebody,
The moment you think of them,
You just feel love.
Don't worry about if they're here anymore.
Don't worry about if it's been forever since you talked to them.
It only needs to be someone who makes your heart glow the moment you think of them.
Spend a little time here.
What does it feel like to think of them?
What can you hear them saying or doing?
What do they look like in your mind?
Spend a moment.
Really draw them up.
Really feel them.
Now with them firmly in your heart,
Make the exact same wish you made for yourself for them.
Don't worry about if you think that they even need this wish or if it's even appropriate.
Don't worry about any of that.
Just make the wish.
May they be okay.
May they be happy.
May they know love and peace and ease.
Imagine a string that connects directly from your heart to theirs.
Picture your wish traveling on that string and connecting right to the very center of them.
For a moment,
Just sit and imagine that wish filling them up like a golden light from the inside out.
Filling every space of this being or person.
May they know how loved they are.
Now let's go out one circle.
Think of somebody who you like a lot.
They're not necessarily in your innermost circle,
Your best bestie of all,
But you love them.
A friend,
A cousin,
An acquaintance.
Maybe somebody you just haven't seen for a long time,
But they live really wonderfully in your heart.
And with them firmly in mind,
Make the exact same wish for them.
May their heart be peaceful.
May they be happy.
May they be healthy.
Again,
Imagine your wish transmitting directly to them.
Imagine it filling them up like a present that you're giving to them.
Imagine what it feels like to give a present.
Allow yourself to feel that as best as you can.
Now going out one more circle.
Think of somebody you don't even know.
Call to mind someone that you just happened to notice.
Somebody in the grocery store or in the car next to yours at the traffic light the other day.
Recognizing that we are all in this life thing together,
Make the exact same wish for them.
May that guy I saw mowing his lawn,
May he be okay.
I have no idea who that person is,
But I know that this life thing can be difficult.
May they be okay.
May they know happiness and peace.
Imagine this stranger feeling this strange,
Funny wind kind of coming over them.
And all of the sudden they are somehow changed.
The next circle out can be a little difficult.
Call to mind someone who challenges you.
I recommend stopping short of full-blown enemy,
Right?
Or somebody who really,
Really is difficult in your life.
Go easy on this one.
Give yourself permission to go with someone who challenges you a little bit,
But doesn't completely trigger you out of this meditation.
So instead of going with global threat to humanity,
Go with social media humble bragger or person in the 10 items or less lane,
But they've got 15 items.
And as best as you can,
Send the wish to them,
Experimenting with the idea that harmful words and actions are symptoms of suffering,
Not villainy.
I know for myself,
If I review all of the many,
Many times I have been unkind or a jerk,
I know what it felt like.
I know they didn't come from a place of clarity and wisdom.
It didn't come from a peaceful heart.
I can fairly easily imagine that it's the same for this person.
Maybe if they had a little of your wish,
They wouldn't be so harmful.
So as best as you can,
And because you are so cool,
Make the wish you made for yourself for them.
May they be okay.
May they know happiness.
May they know lightness and ease.
May they be okay.
Our furthest circle out now is a blast of our wish out to everyone,
Everywhere,
And every when.
Imagine,
Like some great sci-fi Hollywood blockbuster movie,
Picture your wish expanding out from you to every creature,
To every being across the entire globe,
Across the entire universe.
Imagine your wish rustling the leaves and blowing the savannah grass as it travels.
Imagine it touching every heart,
Every child,
Every child soldier,
Every grandmother in Naples,
Italy,
And Naples,
Florida.
Everyone,
Everywhere.
Everyone who has come before,
Everyone who has yet to come.
May all beings be okay.
May all beings everywhere,
Every when,
Know courage.
May they not worry.
May they know peace.
Imagine your wish changing them.
Feel your wish expand outward.
Imagine the boundaries of your heart being boundaryless,
And your wish covering all things.
Now,
In this version of a loving-kindness meditation,
Loving-kindness is a round-trip.
So let's make our way back home.
Again,
Make your wish for that person who challenges you.
And again,
For the person you don't even know.
And once more for your acquaintance,
Or your friend,
Or your cousin.
And once more for the one who glows brightest in your heart.
And finally,
Make the wish one more time for yourself.
We have quite literally visited all beings everywhere and every when.
We have generated so much energy of loving-kindness that supernovae are probably jealous.
And it's time to focus all of that energy squarely back at yourself one more time.
May I be okay.
May I know love.
May I know peace.
And all too often,
Even in these types of meditations,
Making the wish for ourselves is the most difficult part.
And if this is the case for you,
Please don't worry.
I've got you.
Because you are in my wish every time.
You should feel the wave of my wish wash over you any moment now.
Here it comes.
