Today I want to offer a little bit of a different practice that I don't think we've done in a while.
And it's a practice in loving-kindness,
But a different way to practice that I found useful,
Many of my students have found useful.
So let's get to it.
You can allow your eyes to close and find your comfortable meditation posture.
And rather than trying to switch on meditation mode in the mind,
Just recognizing where your mind is at.
Does it feel calm and collected?
Is it a little bit active right now?
Not really hooking on to any specific thought,
But noticing kind of the overall mood of the mind in this moment.
Not needing it to be any other way than it currently is.
And in an effort to settle and collect our attention,
We'll start with just a minute or two of sitting with the breath.
You can choose a spot in the body,
The nose or the abdomen,
The chest.
And allow your attention to rest here.
Not pinning it down,
Not forcing it there,
But just resting the attention here.
And tuning in to the inhale and exhale.
Feeling the physical sensations of breathing from the beginning of the in-breath all the way through to the end of the exhale.
And we'll start this practice in metta or loving-kindness by seeing if you can bring to mind a time or situation in which you felt this natural gentleness or ease or well-wishing.
It could be something quite literal or it could be something hypothetical.
I often use the feeling of sitting there with my cat in my lap or sitting on the couch with my dog kind of cuddling.
You don't need to spend too long finding the perfect situation,
But seeing what comes to your mind and heart.
The sense of kind of ease and comfort.
Not of excitement necessarily,
But something more peaceful,
Content.
And as you bring this to mind,
Connecting with the feeling or sensation or mood that you experience.
Connecting or recognizing any feelings in the body.
Maybe a warmth in the chest or a softening of the shoulders,
A slowing of the breathing,
Any kind of sensation in the mind,
A calming of the mind.
Allowing your experience to be immersed in this feeling,
Emotion,
Thought.
What does it feel like?
When I do this practice,
I often find that a slight little smile naturally comes across my face.
Allowing the mind and body to respond freely.
And with this sensation or experience still within your awareness,
We're going to begin radiating out this feeling.
So you could start with your immediate area,
Maybe your apartment or home or work or wherever you are.
Keeping this sensation of loving-kindness at the forefront of your mind.
With each exhale,
You can imagine just radiating out that sensation or feeling to the area around you.
I've heard it described as radiating out a light that fills the space,
Opening the heart to share this.
And we can begin to expand,
Radiating out to maybe our neighborhood or even our town or city.
If you lose connection with the actual feeling or experience,
You can return to it for a few moments.
And then with each exhale,
Really sending it out to all the beings where you live.
And again,
Continuing to expand to your county or municipality,
Your state or province or district.
Allowing this gentleness and contentment to send out from you to all beings,
Like a gentle light touching everyone and everything.
Reconnecting with the actual sensation as many times as we need to,
As we continue to expand to the country we're in,
The continent and the whole planet.
All the beings on the earth,
In the earth,
In the sea,
In the sky.
Radiating out this metta through this feeling in all directions.
If it helps you to stay concentrated,
You can offer a phrase or two of metta.
May all beings be at ease,
Or may all beings be happy.
For this last minute,
Just returning to where we started,
To this direct sensation of the experience of metta.
Returning to the feeling in our minds and bodies of whatever memory or image we brought to mind.
What does it feel like,
This contentment or ease?
