Welcome my dear friends to Healing Hearts,
Fostering compassion and loving kindness.
Let's dive into the restorative power of compassion,
Particularly as tools to confront the challenges of mental distress for ourselves and others.
So allow yourself to become comfortable and allow your body to relax.
And after we've introduced the concept,
We'll do a little meditation to end the session.
In our contemporary world where mental stress is everywhere,
The nurturing attributes of compassion and loving kindness are becoming more indispensable than ever.
And it's compassion,
The heartfelt understanding of others' suffering,
And loving kindness,
The sincere desire for all beings to be well.
They serve as comforting space for all disturbed hearts and minds around the world.
The Dalai Lama wisely shared,
If you want others to be happy,
Practice compassion.
If you want to be happy,
Practice compassion.
And this profound statement encapsulates the essence of compassion.
Forging connections with others,
Fostering a collective sense of humanity,
And creating a healing environment.
And I can remember asking one of my Zen teachers,
I said,
You talk about empathy and you talk about compassion.
Could you tell me in a simple sentence,
What's the difference?
And his profound answer to me has just resonated all the way through me and everything I do.
And he said,
Empathy is for us,
Compassion is for them.
And it took me a long time to understand that and I'm starting to understand.
Empathy is something we feel when someone comes to us.
Whereas compassion is something we feel when someone comes to us.
When someone comes to us.
Whereas compassion is something we feel for everybody.
The poet Havis provides a beautiful metaphor.
Even after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
You owe me.
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights up the whole sky.
This speaks of love that expects nothing in return.
The kind of love we need to nurture within us and share with others.
A love that fosters a healthy atmosphere and acceptance of understanding.
When we introduce compassion and loving kindness into our own lives,
We serve as a healing balm for our wounded hearts.
They allow us to accept our pain,
Our fears,
Our loneliness.
And we face these emotions with understanding and care.
This is where the true healing of mind begins.
When we extend the same compassion and loving kindness to others,
We contribute to their healing process as well.
And what is love?
Love is acceptance.
When you open your heart and you accept everything just as it is,
Without the need to change it,
That's love.
Nothing more,
Nothing less.
And if you think back to when you've been loved most,
It's when you've been accepted for who you are most.
Now let's engage in our loving kindness meditation.
Just become slightly more comfortable,
Relax into this moment and,
If you haven't closed your eyes already,
Close your eyes now,
Or soften your gaze a few feet in front of you.
And just take a couple of deep breaths.
So visualize yourself,
And as you inhale,
Just think,
May I be safe?
And as you exhale,
May I be happy?
So you breathe in,
May I be safe?
Breathe out,
May I be happy?
And feel it throughout your whole body.
May I be safe?
May I be happy?
And as you continue this practice,
Wishing yourself safety,
Happiness and health,
And may you be happy.
Feel the warmth of these wishes radiating throughout your whole body.
This is the feeling of healing,
Of your mind being comforted.
This is where your heart is taking over.
Now think of someone you deeply care about.
Now think of someone you deeply care about.
It could be a friend,
Could be a partner,
It could even be a pet.
And we'll extend our wishes of safety and happiness and health and peace to them as well.
And we do this by breathing in,
May you be safe.
And may you be happy as you breathe out.
And imagine this love and this peace,
Just encapsulating them.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
Now picture someone neutral,
Someone who's not afraid.
Someone that you neither like nor dislike.
And we're going to extend the same to them.
So when you've got someone in mind,
Just picture them there with you.
And we do the same.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
And now we're going to visualize someone that you find difficult.
And remember this is for you to send the healing of your huge heart and your mind and your compassion to the world to help heal the world.
So we find somebody that we find a little bit difficult.
It could be a neighbor,
It could be someone that we just find a little frustrating at times.
And we extend our wishes of safety,
Happiness and health to them.
May you be safe.
And may you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
And now finally imagine the entire world.
Every living creature.
Every human.
Everything including the earth itself.
And just imagine embracing it.
As if you had the power to heal.
May you be safe.
And may you be happy.
Really feel what it's like to have the power of healing in your hands,
In your heart.
And now with the close deep friend in mind,
The close deep friend in mind,
The person that you neither like nor dislike.
Also the person that frustrates you and the entire world.
And also yourself as well.
We'll step through the three matters.
May we all be safe.
May we all be happy.
May we all be loved.
May we all be safe.
May we all be happy.
May we all be loved.
And if you bring your awareness back to your breath,
Gently wiggle your toes and your fingers.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
And just look around this room and carry this loving kindness with you.
And let it guide your interactions with others and the interactions with yourself.
When you hear the voices or the feelings arise,
Just foster a space of healing and understanding.
And the love in your life and the lives of those around you.
The lives of those around you.
And remember that love is acceptance.
Accepting the present moment for what it is.
Accepting the person in front of us for exactly who they are.
Accepting the feeling for what it is.
The thought for what it is.
And this moment for what it is.
Thank you.
And I hope you have a loving,
Compassionate,
Healing day.
