So take a few moments to make sure you are settled down in the present,
The here and now,
And make sure as well that your mind is in the best state possible,
Having as your reason for being here Bodhicitta,
The wish to help all sentient beings and to actualize your Buddha nature,
Your potential for enlightenment,
So that you can be of the greatest possible benefit to all living beings.
So today we'll do a meditation on love,
Also known as loving kindness,
Maitri,
Metta,
Jamba.
So the first four steps of the sevenfold cause and effect method for developing Bodhicitta are said to engender a kind of love that's called heartwarming love or endearing love,
Affectionate love.
And this is kind of love a parent,
Like a mother or father,
Has towards their little child.
So bring to mind either your mother or someone else who has shown you a great deal of kindness and care,
Especially when you are vulnerable and in great need of such care.
And as you think of this person,
See if you can feel this kind of love,
Seeing that person as dear,
Precious,
Beautiful,
And you really want to return the kindness that they have shown to you.
And so the next step in the sevenfold method is meditating on love,
This wish for others to have happiness in its causes and expand this feeling of love and gradually learn to extend it to more and more people and sentient beings.
So we can start with this person that you just thought about,
Your mother or whoever was so kind to you.
And so good to have a mental picture of this person and then focusing on that,
Contemplate how wonderful it would be if they could have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May they have happiness and its causes.
I will make sure that they have happiness and its causes.
And now bring to mind another person who is a friend,
Either a friend or a relative,
Someone you already care about,
And have a mental picture of that person.
And then do the same contemplation.
Feel how wonderful it would be if this person could have happiness and its causes.
May they have happiness and its causes.
I myself would do what I can to make sure that they do have happiness and its causes.
Now let's try it with a neutral person.
So you just imagine a stranger or someone you might know a little bit but you're not really close to.
Imagine that person in front of you and then think how wonderful it would be if this person could have happiness and its causes.
May they have happiness and its causes.
And I will do what I can to make sure they have happiness and its causes.
And then think of someone you dislike or find annoying,
Not your worst enemy,
But maybe someone you have a mild level of dislike for,
And picture that person in front of you.
And then do the same contemplation.
And how wonderful it would be if this person could have happiness and the causes of happiness.
And it might be helpful to think that if they were more happy,
They might be more likable,
They wouldn't be so annoying.
May they have happiness and its causes.
I myself would do what I can to make sure they have happiness and its causes.
So one sutra,
The King of Concentrations sutra,
Says that the merit of generating love is greater than the merit of constantly making incredibly vast offerings to the most excellent beings like the Buddhas.
Even just spending a few minutes trying to generate love is incredibly powerful,
Beneficial,
Meritorious.
So make the determination to work on doing this,
Generating love and having it there in your mind and your life as much as you can.
