Meditation On Love

Venerable Thubten Chodron guides a meditation on the breath to calm the mind, then leads a meditation on sending loving-kindness to all sentient beings.

Transcript

So let's begin meditation by focusing on our breath and letting the mind settle down.

So breathe normally and naturally.

Don't force your breath or deep breathe.

Let your breathing pattern be what it is but observe it.

Be aware of the in-breaths and out-breaths.

So you can focus at the belly and be aware of the rise and fall of your belly as you inhale and exhale.

Or focus on the upper lip,

Nostrils,

And be aware of the breath as it passes by those areas.

Distractions come.

Just note them but don't make a story about them.

Don't follow them.

Don't get mad at yourself for having them.

Simply note them and then return your mindfulness to the breath.

So while you're observing your breath,

You can also be aware of how it connects you to the rest of the universe.

And you can also be aware of how it's changing in every moment.

It's transient nature.

So by focusing on one object,

In this case the breath,

Then the mind settles down.

Okay.

So in the meditation on love or loving kindness,

We're wishing living beings to have happiness and its causes.

So before we even get to the actual meditation,

We have to think a bit about what happiness means.

Because there's different levels of happiness and there's different causes of these different levels of happiness.

So there's temporal happiness,

The happiness that comes from having good food,

Clothes,

Shelter,

Nice clothes,

Entertainment,

Job security,

A nice family,

Recreational opportunities,

All the things that we consider a happy and successful life in a worldly way.

So in this meditation we wish all living beings to have those things,

Good friends,

Career,

Fulfillment,

Happy family,

Serene environment.

And we're wishing for them to have the causes of those things,

Which may be the actual objects or the situations themselves.

But we also have to look at the deeper causes for those temporal enjoyments.

And the deeper causes are the karma that we've created.

And Nagarjuna told us that generosity is the cause of wealth.

So if we wish people to have material wealth,

Then we also have to wish them to be generous,

So that they create the causes to receive the material wealth.

If we wish people to have stable relationships and good families,

Then we also have to wish them to know how to manage their anger,

How to forgive,

How to accept that other people are different than they are,

And that the role of other living beings isn't just to do what we want them to do.

So don't just wish people to have nice cars and beautiful vacations,

But really wish that they have the inner qualities so that they can enjoy those things without experiencing discontent and dissatisfaction or frustration when they have them.

And think of the inner qualities that they need to have to create the karmic causes to receive the temporal happiness and cyclic existence.

Qualities such as generosity,

Ethical conduct,

Forgiveness,

Patience and fortitude,

Kindness and appreciation,

The ability to apologize,

And so on.

So first spend time wishing them to have the temporal happiness and think of the things that delight them and envision them having those things.

And also think of them having the qualities and creating the causes necessary to receive and to enjoy those things.

The second level of happiness we wish for living beings is the happiness that comes through internal transformation,

The happiness that develops due to spiritual efforts and spiritual practice.

So this kind of happiness is an internal happiness that doesn't rely so much on external objects or places,

Things or people.

It's the happiness that comes from respecting and liking ourselves because we treat other people fairly,

Because we have good ethical conduct,

Because we're at peace in our own hearts,

Because we don't try and swindle others or take advantage of them or put them down in order to put ourselves up.

So that kind of inner peace that comes from treating other beings well and living an ethical life,

That comes due to our own internal transformation.

It's not something that can be purchased by money or given to us by other people.

So really think of that degree of happiness and wish that all beings have it.

Think also of the happiness and joy others experience if they develop deep states of concentration.

Think of the sense of fulfillment that comes from generating wisdom that knows the nature of how things exist.

Think of the inner peace and contentment that comes from meditating on love and compassion and practicing those towards others in our daily lives.

So think of the more stable happiness and joy and fulfillment that comes through inner development that makes it possible for us to be peaceful and content no matter who we're with or what is going on around us.

So this is a very different type of happiness than the happiness of going to concerts and discos and so on.

But it's also a more stable and secure happiness because it's one we have developed inside that doesn't depend on the fluctuating and changing of external circumstances.

So spend a little bit of time thinking about these two different kinds of happiness,

The temporal happiness and the spiritual happiness,

And think of their different causes so that when we go on in the meditation and wish that sentient beings have happiness in its causes,

We're clearer about exactly what we're wishing them to have.

So we start this meditation on love by wishing ourselves to be well and happy.

So we wish ourselves to have temporal happiness,

The good things of this life and their causes,

The objects and situations themselves,

And especially the actions,

The karma that we have done that leaves the karmic seeds on our mind that will ripen in us having temporal happiness.

And then wish yourself to have the deeper,

Long-lasting happiness that comes through spiritual development.

So when you wish this kind of happiness for yourself,

Really feel what that would be like to have that.

Try and imagine it and experience it so that you really wish it for yourself.

So we start this meditation on love by wishing ourselves to be well and happy.

And then expand that wish for happiness to include friends and family,

Thinking again of specific people,

People who have benefited you directly,

As well as teachers and different people who have been very important in your life to set you going in a good direction.

So thinking of specific people,

Wish them to have temporal happiness and also the happiness that comes through spiritual transformation.

And imagine them having that happiness.

Imagine them feeling content and fulfilled.

Get this right,

In every way that you want.

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E tenderloinau.

Then wish this kind of happiness for strangers,

All the people in society,

In your own country and internationally,

All the living beings throughout the entire universe in whatever life form they're in,

Who contribute to our complex interdependent world and who we've received benefit from.

All these people we don't know but who want happiness and freedom from suffering with the same intensity that we do and who may not have the good living conditions that we have or may not have the opportunities that we have due to poverty,

Discrimination,

Racism and so on.

So wish all these strangers to be well and happy,

To have the temporal happiness that they seek,

To live where they experience equality in their society,

When they have the opportunities that they seek,

When they have freedom from oppression,

When they have food and clothing and shelter and education and peace in their society where they don't need to fear from weapons or wars,

Natural disasters and so on.

So wish them to have this temporal happiness and the causes and imagine them having all of these and the sense of relaxation,

The freedom from fear that it will give them and rejoice in that.

And then wish them to have the happiness that comes from internal spiritual development,

The peace that comes from the sense of integrity and self-respect that is due to living ethically,

The happiness that is derived from being generous and having freedom from stinginess and miserliness and greed,

The happiness that comes from dispelling confusion and doubt.

So wish them also to have this internal spiritual happiness.

And then let's think of the people that we don't get along with very well and how they also want to be happy,

They want to be free of suffering.

And to recall that if they were happy,

If they were satisfied,

They would be free of the disturbing emotions that propel them to do the things that we find so troublesome.

So often we wish the people we don't like and our enemies to have suffering,

We want to retaliate,

But actually if they have more suffering then they're going to express their suffering likely in ways that will harm us.

So it's better that we wish them to have happiness and contentment and then they won't be doing the things that we find objectionable.

This doesn't mean that we wish everybody to have everything they want because sometimes people want things that in fact destroy their own happiness.

So we don't want everybody to have free alcohol and free opioids and so on.

We're not wishing that they have everything they want,

We're wishing that they have the things that they need to survive and we're wishing that they have the inner peace so that they don't want those things that lead them down the slippery slope in creating the cause of suffering.

We wish them internal peace,

We wish them to feel that their lives are useful,

To have a vision for their life,

To be confident in their own abilities.

We wish them to overcome their own internal hindrances and their disturbing emotions and instead to have a positive sense of self-worth and confidence so that they can make their lives meaningful to themselves and other living beings.

So we wish temporal and spiritual happiness,

Ultimate happiness and joy and contentment and fulfillment for everybody no matter whether they've helped us or harmed us,

No matter whether they're neutral towards us.

But we really open our hearts and extend this to all living beings and really think of specific people and extend this open heart and wish for happiness and fulfillment to them as well as to all the others.

Okay.

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Reviews

🙏🏻

Aligned with so much - my morning prayer, my work this season of my life and learnings about healing. Really loved how you explained the importance of observing the breath. And beautiful point on giving love to those we arent in good graces with.

Really good! Thank you so much! Such a beautiful meditation with wisdom and insight into the causes of happiness.

Wonderful. Thank you. You are so wise. I bow to you 🙏🏽

My insight and compassion is improving every time I practice. With gratitude. Love and light.

So clear and helpful - thank you for your support 🙏🏽💖🙏🏽

Grounding & uplifting. Thank you.

Thank you for guiding me through this loving meditation on temporal and spiritual happiness and their causes for self and others.

Every now and then I come back to this meditation. 🦋☀️🙏

This is one of the most beautiful, inspiring meditations I’ve done in a long time. Thank you. 🙏

Wonderful! I need to hear those positive thoughts to remind myself to be kind to all.

Thank you for this wondrously deep spiritual gift.

Namaste

Thank you...for this beautiful meditation. May you and all living beings enjoy both temporal and spiritual love and all the conditions supporting it. Namaste

Wonderful thank you

Loved it! Thank you.

Amazing, namaste 💫

Thank you for your kind guidance and wisdom. May you be well.

Wonderful teaching and guidance. Namaste.

Very helpful thank you so much xoxo

A gentle and loving guidance. Thank you.