Loving Kindness – Befriending Our Lives

This heart practice guides us in how to cultivate a deep quality of friendliness in relating to our inner life and each other. The gift of this practice is a direct sense of belonging – knowing that we can never be alone (retreat meditation).

Transcript

The following meditation is led by Tara Brach.

To access more of my meditations or join my email list please visit tarabrach.

Com.

So welcome to our heart meditation.

It's nice to be together with you.

Feel free to find a way of sitting that's comfortable and allows you to be alert enough so you're here.

With the loving-kindness practice we might use ideas and thoughts of others but for it to really become manifest it's an experience in the body,

A tenderness and warmth in the body.

So I like to begin by establishing that embodied presence,

Bringing metta into the body with the imagery of a smile.

Thich Nhat Hanh calls this smile yoga because it… and again it's got a real science to it that the image and the felt sense of a smile actually relaxes the fight-flight freeze mechanism,

The stress reaction.

It activates the parasympathetic nervous system which really allows us to feel a sense of ease and benevolence.

And you might imagine the great sky that's around us right now,

This blue open sky,

And imagine it filled with the curve and the image of a smile,

Receptive,

Vast,

Open,

Letting your mind merge with that vast open sky and sensing the smile spreading through your whole mind.

You might allow the eyes to smile,

The outer corners of the eyes lifted up some so there's a sense of spaciousness and ease and softening of the eyes,

The brow is smooth,

Still sensing that open sky-like mind,

Letting it all float in that,

Smiling into the eyes,

Slight smile at the lips,

And sense the inside of the mouth smiling,

And visualize and sense and feel a smile spreading through the heart,

This isn't to cover over but really creating the space for the life that's here,

And sensing that smile there and kind of rings of opening and opening and opening so that there's space,

There's space enough for the shoulders to relax back and down,

Arms relaxed and the hands soft,

Smiling into the heart.

You can actually feel the sensations there,

The aliveness there,

There's room.

You might visualize and feel the sense of a smile spreading through the belly,

Softening the belly,

Letting the awareness,

The aliveness be felt deep in the torso.

You can begin to feel sensations much more intimately and directly,

Belly,

Legs,

The feet,

Letting the atmosphere and feeling of a smile spread through the whole body,

The space around you,

Just feeling this aliveness held in the felt sense and experience of a smile,

Inviting into your awareness some being that's easy to feel love with.

It might be a pet or a child,

A beloved parent,

Sibling,

Friend,

Teacher,

Spiritual figure,

Bringing this being close in so you can see their eyes,

The look on their face,

Reminding yourself of what you love,

Sensing how they express love,

How they express their aliveness,

Their consciousness and their intelligence,

Their tenderness,

Their humor,

Their truthfulness.

And as you sense what you're loving,

You might mentally whisper the being's name and say,

I love you.

Or you might say,

Thank you.

Just your gratitude for their existence,

Feeling the goodness of loving,

Sense them receiving your love,

Your thanks.

Feel the connectedness,

The field,

The depth of we are friends,

We belong together.

So you're sensing that field that's bigger than any self and then bringing your attention to the life within you,

Viewing this being right here through your own wisest heart,

Sensing the goodness that's here,

That which loves inside you,

This capacity for love,

The longing for truth,

To see the truth of nature,

Longing to wake up,

To be part of the healing.

And if it helps to look through the eyes of another,

If it's difficult to see your own being,

See the goodness,

To look through the eyes of another that loves you,

Seeing the goodness,

How this being who you are loves beauty,

Loves to be in wonder,

Loves to love.

And as you see that,

You might offer yourself some wish,

Some blessing,

Whatever comes naturally,

Expressing your care for the life that's right here.

And if it deepens it,

You might explore putting your hand on your heart,

Because we don't often be in relationship with our life this way.

So to experiment,

And you might have used,

You put your hand on your heart,

Vary the pressure so it's tender,

Direct,

So the pressure itself is communicating care.

Notice what happens when you offer yourself a sincere wish.

May I be happy.

May I feel safe,

Free from inner or outer harm.

May I be filled with loving presence,

Held in loving presence.

May I touch great natural peace.

Taking some moments to explore,

Offering care,

Whatever message feels alive and right for you right now.

And perhaps visualizing and sensing that message manifesting.

Sensing what you're wishing for yourself.

And from the place in you that longs to love and loves to love,

We widen the circles now.

Bringing to mind someone that's close to you,

That you care about.

Bringing them close in and sensing goodness in that being.

And reflecting we are friends and the depth of that,

What that really means.

In the next few moments,

Bringing to mind others in your close circle,

Family,

Friends,

And exploring what happens when with each you bring them close in in your awareness and sense the field of relatedness of we are friends.

Including as you reflect some of those who are here,

Those that are sitting near you,

Those who you might know or have seen just visually,

Those you may have eaten lunch with,

We are friends.

Widening to include parts of this natural world that you love beginning with non-human animals.

Bringing to mind a non-human animal.

Bringing that being close in.

We are friends.

And including parts of this living earth,

Tree that you love perhaps that's near to where you live,

Plants,

Water.

We are friends.

Sensing the belonging that arises.

Bringing to mind now a group of humans who may be suffering,

A group that's different than your own.

Bringing the image of a human person nearby right close into your awareness that represents the suffering group.

Be those of a different religion who are suffering,

Race,

Sexual orientation,

Gender identity,

Those at war in a certain part of this world that are struggling,

Facing genocide.

Just bringing a being in close in.

Sensing the struggle and reflecting we are friends.

Bringing in the image and sense of someone who is very difficult for you to include in your heart.

Honoring first the reaction of this is difficult.

First bringing kindness to the life inside you.

Then in the spirit of the Dalai Lama saying,

My friend the enemy,

Sense the we are friends that reaches past the conditioning to the vulnerable and real human that's living there.

And widening now the awareness to include all that you have reflected on.

Inner life,

Beloved one,

Friends,

Those you don't know as well,

Non-human animals,

This living earth,

Difficult beings,

Those who are struggling.

Feeling this living earth,

Our larger body,

Teeming with life,

Holding all,

Sensing that web of belonging.

We are friends.

It connects us.

It relaxes us back to the awareness,

The one field of awareness,

Tender and awake,

Luminous and open.

So we can feel that shared prayerfulness on behalf of all life everywhere,

That all life everywhere awaken to its innate belonging,

That these lives are lived in service of each other,

In service of aliveness,

That all beings everywhere can feel the natural of being alive,

That all beings everywhere can touch deep and natural peace.

These are the words of the poet Mark Nepo.

My soul tells me we are all broken from the same nameless heart and every living thing wakes with a piece of that original heart aching its way into blossom.

This is why we know each other below our strangeness,

Why when we fall we lift each other or when in pain we hold each other,

Why when sudden with joy we dance together.

Life is the many pieces of that great heart loving itself back together.

Life is the many pieces of that great heart loving itself back together.

Taking these last few moments in quietness,

Resting in that heart-space that all beings everywhere.

Life is the many pieces of that great heart loving itself back together.

Reviews

That really helped me appreciate the diversity and oneness of all the beauty and diversity we are surrounded by. Thank you for being able to express love in words.

I have been listening to Tara for at least a decade. I shared the wisdom when I worked in alcohol and drug rehab. We all benefited from her talks.

Thank you! It’s been a very long time since I experienced such hopefulness and pure love and kindness for the human race and my life and our planet. Thank you.

Seven months ago, I lost my heart dog, after 16.5 years together. She was my teacher, my best friend, my heart. I have been grieving. I have realized that I'm having a hard time feeling love. I started thinking about what I could do to start feeling love again, and I thought of Loving Kindness meditation. Tara is my favorite teacher, so I searched for this meditation. I felt a tiny spark of love buried deep in my heart during this practice. I know with daily nurturing of that tiny spark, I can reignite the flame. Thank you for your teachings and wisdom, Tara.

Warmng, lovng and peaceful. Resonating with the sacred heart and soul. Namaste 🙏

Thanks so much, Tara. Your guidance is very helpful. 🙏❤️

Just beautiful. This meditation brought tremendous peace and comfort to me.
Thank you

I just love love love this meditation. I had my beautiful loving cat at nyvdide this time. Thank you.

One of my all-time favorites. I always leave the cushion feeling surrounded by love. What an immense gift. Thank you, Tara.

One of the very best Loving Kindness meditations. Extra special. Effective.

So lovely and peaceful. Tara has a way of guiding that is very comforting.

Beautiful meditation, opening the heart to self and others

Just a phenomenal spirit. It is always a privilege spending time with you Tara. 💕

Very nice metta practice. Thank you for sharing this with us. Namaste

Thank you Tara. This was so beautiful. I am so grateful for what you offer. Everytime I listen to you speak I feel a greater sense of connectedness. My heart space feels expansive after hearing this. Thank you.

Just what I needed this morning. Beautiful practice.

This practice cracked me open...tears flowed with the closing bell. We are friends.

A beautiful Loving Kindness practice. Thank you Tara. I also really appreciated the words “Life is the many pieces of the great heart loving itself back together,” by Mark Nepo.

“Life is the many pieces of that great heart loving itself back together.”

Love this meditation and teacher. Thank you Tara Brach!