Begin as one of my teachers says to start a meditation with thoughts of goodwill for yourself and for others.
Begin with goodwill.
Begin with goodwill because at the heart of this practice is a turning toward that which is real,
That which is challenging,
That which is beautiful in the human condition,
In the animal condition,
In the earthly condition.
And if we turn toward what's real,
We will see the mix of beauty and horror,
Pleasure and pain,
Gain and loss,
Birth and death,
Creation and destruction that is the ever-churning activity of life.
That in itself is completely natural,
But as beings who carry this strange blessing of consciousness,
Self-consciousness,
Awareness of our own actions,
Of each other,
Of the results of actions.
We are able,
In a way that it seems some of our animal neighbors may not be,
Some of our neighbors in the spirit realms perhaps may not be,
We are able,
The teachings say,
In a distinct way to feel the consequences of our actions.
And when we see the mix of beauty and horror in the world and we feel we are aware of how passion and intention play out as beauty or horror,
The natural response when the heart is open,
When it's safe enough to let the heart open a little bit is goodwill,
Kindness for ourselves and others.
Everyone suffers.
We begin by knowing that truth and then the great heart of compassion and kindness can arise.
Begin with thoughts of goodwill.
Maybe your mind is troubled because of something you did that caused harm or something someone else did that caused harm or is doing that causes harm.
It's appropriate to know that and tend to it,
Whether through action or forgiveness or both.
But the practice of coming to stillness,
To our own center,
To the center of the turning world,
The poet Eliot says,
The still point.
Practice of coming to the still point is to set aside our complaint and worry and fixing for a few moments and rest together in goodwill.
We begin with goodwill because it's from goodwill,
Kindness,
Friendliness.
The commitment to avoid harm causing or receiving.
That the heart mind can relax out of its learned vigilance,
Can relax out of what it takes to walk across the street or do your work or care for your people or attend the burning world.
We take a few moments to soften back into center,
To set down our burden for a moment and rest in goodwill,
Kindness.
If the voice or the feeling comes that you don't deserve kindness or goodwill because of what you've done or have not done or who you are or are not,
That voice,
That feeling is to be recognized as doubt.
Everyone regardless of their actions deserves kindness.
Not everyone deserves to be in power,
Not everyone deserves wealth,
Not everyone deserves comfort maybe,
But everyone deserves kindness.
Because loss,
Which is the mirror sibling to love,
Is just as much a part of this life for people who cause harm as it is for people who try to not cause harm.
We begin with goodwill for ourselves,
For others.
Once you feel your system settle,
That little turn toward ease,
Then you might,
If it feels good to do so,
Turn toward the deeper silence internally.
Come to the sense of the whole body sitting,
The sense of the breath rising and falling,
Relaxing around and into and through the body and its posture,
Relaxing around,
Into and through the breathing.
And the invitation to rest in intimate presence with this body,
Breathing,
Living,
Feeling.
And as we sit together in silence,
Noticing when the mind spins into story,
As soon as we notice,
Without excluding any part of ourselves,
Without any blame of this body mind for doing what it's learned,
We simply practice bringing the attention more fully into the body,
Into the sense of the whole body breathing,
Whole body sitting rooted on the earth.
More and more,
Just intimate with this breathing life.
Sit in silence with the body,
With the heart,
With the mind,
Just as they are,
And learn to delight in stillness.
Is also goodwill,
Is also kindness.
