Embrace the Entire World with Loving-Kindness - Meditation

Holding the planet and all of humanity in 'The Heart of Loving-Kindness' for the sake of this world, our current home, for our own sakes, and the human family.

Transcript

Holding the entire world in the heart of loving kindness.

Becoming aware of the sitting posture.

Becoming aware of the body just sitting.

Bringing the awareness to know the feelings on the skin around the area of the face.

Including the ears,

The top of the head and then the neck.

Aware of the feelings on the skin.

And now include the upper shoulders.

Relaxing any tension.

Including the upper arms.

The chest and the upper back.

Aware of the upper part of the body in the sitting posture.

Then including the stomach and the abdomen.

And then around to the lower back.

Including the remainder of the arms,

The lower arms and the hands.

Feeling one hand pressing on the other hand.

And just aware of the feelings on the skin.

A sense for the body in an upright posture.

Sitting.

Now include the upper legs,

The right and left thigh.

And then include the bottom and just aware of the feeling of pressure of the mat or the cushion or the chair in the sitting posture.

Now include the lower legs,

The ankles and the feet.

Just aware of the body sitting with a broad sense of awareness of the feelings on the skin.

Feeling with an upright back.

Not too stiff,

Not too loose.

Upright yet relaxed.

Bringing your awareness to know the in and out breathing.

Knowing with mindful awareness the feeling of an in breath,

The entire in breath.

Nose,

Chest and abdomen.

Aware of the feelings as the breath comes into the body.

And knowing the feelings,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose as the breath leaves the body.

Moment by moment,

Knowing one in breath and one out breath.

Simply mindfully aware of the feelings of the natural breath.

Nose,

Chest,

Abdomen.

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose.

We can use the breath on the in breath,

Establishing fresh awareness,

Fully arriving in the present moment.

And with the out breath,

Putting things down.

Aware of one in breath,

Just aware of the feelings of the breath.

Aware of one out breath,

Just aware of the feelings and putting down thoughts about the past,

Thoughts about the future,

Thoughts about other places,

Other people.

Allowing the feeling of the breathing to be the mind's object of awareness.

Simply aware of the in and out breathing.

If you are familiar with the noting method,

You can note to help you to be with the feeling of the breath.

Otherwise just aware of those feelings,

Placing the awareness,

Resting the awareness with the natural breath.

Aware of the in breath,

Aware of the out breath.

And with the out breath,

Just aware of the in breath.

And with the out breath,

Just aware of the in breath.

We will now move into the metta loving kindness aspect of this meditation.

Human beings have an extraordinary capacity to love.

There have been many times when somebody did something that hurt your feelings and you forgave them.

There have been many times when either yourself,

A friend,

A parent,

A teacher,

Someone you know made a mistake.

And you forgave them,

You forgave yourself.

Human beings are fallible creatures.

We all have bad habits and we all make mistakes.

And yet we have this extraordinary capacity to learn,

To grow and to keep loving.

Metta loving kindness is a pure form of love.

An attitude of acceptance,

Of radiating goodwill.

We all have a certain amount of goodwill.

We all radiate kindness at times.

I'd like to ask you now to open this capacity of the heart towards yourself.

Just allow the warmth of your human heart,

Your human mind to embrace the area of your chest and the upper body.

An attitude of loving acceptance,

Warmth,

Friendliness,

Forgiveness.

Breathing in,

I lovingly allow this mind and body just as it is.

Breathing out,

May I be well,

May I be happy.

Still aware of the breathing,

With the in-breath,

Opening the heart,

The warmth of loving kindness,

Blossoming in the mind,

Unfolding in the mind,

Spreading.

Breathing out,

Radiating the warmth of loving kindness.

Filling the area of the heart,

The area of the chest,

The upper arms.

Breathing in,

May I be well.

Breathing out,

May I be happy.

And just allowing the body and mind to be just as they are with an attitude of pure love,

Unconditional love,

Loving acceptance and goodwill.

Breathing in,

May I be well.

Breathing out,

May I be happy.

Continue to do this for the next minute or so,

Just aware of the feeling of the breath,

Inclining the heart-mind to open with pure loving kindness on the in-breath and radiating the loving kindness to fill your upper body on the out-breath.

If you find it helpful,

You can visualize either white or gold light.

On the in-breath,

The gold light of loving kindness,

The warmth of loving kindness,

Radiating brightly and on the out-breath spreading.

Breathing in,

May I be well.

Breathing out,

May I be happy.

And just allowing the body and mind to be just as they are with an attitude of pure love,

Unconditional love,

Loving acceptance and goodwill.

Kindness,

I'd like you to bring to mind now,

This planet that we're all living on,

Planet Earth.

And becoming aware of the perception of millions,

Hundreds of millions,

Billions of beings.

Think for a moment of all of the living creatures on this planet,

Seven billion human beings,

Hundreds of billions of animals,

Birds,

Fish,

And all of these beings in their own way,

Aspiring to be happy.

Among the beings on the planet,

The human beings have the most extraordinary potential,

Both good and bad,

Skillful and unskillful.

Right now on this planet,

There are many thousands of bombs with nuclear warheads.

There are many chemical weapons,

Viral weapons,

Lasers,

Any number of weapons of mass destruction created by human beings.

On the other hand,

There are billions of mothers who have nursed their babies,

Are nursing their babies,

Who have cared for their children,

Nurtured,

Comforted,

Supported,

And billions of kind fathers also,

And brothers and sisters,

Cousins,

Children,

Grandchildren,

An incredible web of interrelationship,

An extraordinary spectrum of love,

Genius,

Creativity,

And diabolical ingenuity,

Capable of causing terrible destruction.

Although it's a stretch,

I'd like you to imagine now the entire planet in the area of your heart,

Where you've just opened the heart of loving kindness,

Radiated loving kindness.

Seeing this planet earth in the area of your heart,

Hold this planet,

Our shared home,

In your heart,

And bathe it in the golden light of pure loving kindness.

Human beings,

All of us with good and bad habits,

All of us with extraordinary potential.

Lord Buddha explains that loving kindness has a protective power and generates enormous merit.

It is a protection for the world when a percentage of the human beings living on this planet hold the world and all beings on it in the heart of loving kindness.

As an offering to this world,

To your family,

Your friends,

Your teachers,

And to all beings,

Try to stretch and expand your capacity to offer an attitude of pure loving acceptance,

And just embrace this world,

Holding it in your heart.

All of the beings inclined towards goodness,

And those beings currently inclined towards darkness,

Holding them all with patience,

Tolerance,

Forgiveness,

Holding it with love,

And making the wish,

May we be well,

May we be happy,

May we be safe,

And allowing your extraordinary capacity to generate and radiate loving kindness,

To permeate,

Embrace,

Imbue the entire world and all of the hundreds of billions of creatures,

Building the world,

Our present home,

With a heart of loving kindness.

Breathing in,

May all beings on this planet earth be well,

Be happy,

And breathing out,

May we be safe,

May we be free from harm.

Try to hold this vast planet with the attitude of a mother holding her newborn baby,

With tender care,

With pure goodwill,

With every best wish,

And seeing all unenlightened beings as being like children,

Sometimes confused,

Not knowing what affects their minds,

Lacking guidance,

With the attitude of a loving parent,

Tolerant,

Patient,

Kind,

And deeply deeply loving,

Holding all beings on this planet at this time with loving kindness,

Still aware of the breathing,

Breathing in,

May all beings be well,

May they be happy,

Breathing out,

May we be safe,

May we be free from harm,

And just continue to do this for a couple of more minutes.

The entire planet in the area of your heart,

Seeing this planet earth in the area of your heart,

Hold this planet,

Our shared home,

In your heart,

And bathe it in the golden light of pure loving kindness,

Just holding it with love,

And making the wish,

May we be well,

May we be happy,

May we be safe,

Still aware of the breathing,

Breathing in,

May all beings be well,

May they be happy,

Breathing out,

May we be safe,

May we be free from harm.

Breathing in,

May all beings be well,

May they be happy,

Breathing out,

May we be safe,

May we be free from harm.

May we be SEVENTH dahli kind.

Loving kindness,

Lord Buddha explains,

Is incredibly protective.

It creates enormous amount of merit.

It's something that we can wholeheartedly trust.

Opening the heart of loving kindness,

Radiating the heart of loving kindness to all as to oneself.

Breathing in,

May I be well,

May I be happy,

May I be safe.

Breathing out,

May all beings be well,

May all beings be happy,

May all beings be safe.

Just taking one or two more breaths,

Embracing the entire world with loving kindness,

Allowing the perception of the world to fall away.

Before ending this meditation with a few more minutes of breath awareness,

I'd like to ask you to recollect that consciously,

Deliberately radiating loving kindness produces powerful merit and that this merit can be shared,

Can be dedicated.

Let us all dedicate this merit now to all human beings on this planet.

Due to the power,

The protective power of loving kindness,

May we be safe,

May we be well,

May we be happy.

May the potential for disaster,

The potential for catastrophe,

Be overridden by the potential for abundance,

Joy,

Harmony and love.

May we be safe,

May we be well,

May we be happy.

May we forgive one another and may we learn and grow to be more noble and wise.

May all beings be well,

May all beings be happy.

And then returning your awareness to be aware of the feelings of the breathing,

Taking the time to close the session by regenerating clear mindfulness,

A sense of presence and awareness in the body in the present moment,

Aware of feelings as feelings,

Aware of the body sitting,

Aware of one in breath,

Nose,

Chest,

Abdomen,

One out breath,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose and just knowing this breathing,

The natural breathing,

The body breathing in a sitting posture,

One moment at a time,

One breath at a time.

Breathing in,

Aware of the in breath,

Breathing out,

Aware of the out breath.

And that brings us to the end of our meditation session.

Thank you for your contribution to the well-being of the planet and all beings.

Reviews

This meditation was helpful for me. I am so worried about the state of the world just now. This meditation allowed me to feel like I could help, in some small way. Thank you.

Deeply meaningful and beautiful meditation. Gratitude.

Profoundly transformative and supportive…connecting with all beings in good will is expansive and very gentle and intimate at the same time.

Amazing I get so much from you and your Metta Loving Kindness. I listen to all your meditations and talks! Thank you so much ☺️💛

True practice. The world hears you, thank you for your practice.

This is what I believe is the answer right now. Thank you. Namaste _/\_

Wonderful! Thank you so much for this meditation. Namaste

Just lovely and good for me when i need to settle my heart and spirit.

In the peace before dawn, this metta for the Earth and Her beings brings personal and global peace and good will. Beautiful guidance. And again and again.

I love this meditation. It is slightly shorter than most of his—so I don’t have to wait until the weekend.😍. I feel like it is all there —a body scan, a breathing practice, nice organic transition to loving kindness and finally back to mindfulness. A wonderful way to start the day. Thank you.

Thankyou Bhante 😀🙏

Thank you for this beautiful & powerful practice. I will be working with this regularly.

Very beautiful. Holding the whole world in your heart and infusing it with loving kindness. Brings tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for this deeply loving meditation.

The people on the whole world need much more love and understanding - this meditation helps too very much. Sadhu 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

I just can’t say enough good things about Ajahn Achalo’s meditations and talks!

So many if Ajahn's talks and meditations speak truth to my soul. His practices are deep and expansive and healing and uplifting. In such deep gratitude 🙏🏽

Really nice guided metta practice. Quiet, simple but expansive.

Beautiful. Everyone everywhere should be meditating on this every day. Love, peace, strength and kindness to each other and to ourselves.

Just what I needed in these times. Should be required for our leaders,

I love getting to be a part of this meditation. :)