Hello friends.
The following is a Metta meditation.
Metta in the Pali language translates as loving-kindness.
So it's a way of cultivating goodwill as an antidote to ill will.
It's a way of nurturing positive regard towards yourself and others and the world around you and it has quite a transformative effect on the whole body-mind,
Especially when practiced over time or in the midst of your day.
Begin by finding a comfortable posture,
Coming into a relaxed sense of alignment and balance,
Right to left,
Front to back,
A regal majestic posture with your heart area open,
Alert and relaxed.
And beginning with two or three full complete breaths,
Really filling up your lungs and exhaling completely,
Releasing anything you've been carrying.
You might even offer a little sigh on the exhalation,
Letting go.
And then letting your breath relax into its own natural rhythm,
Not controlling anything.
You might notice the little natural pause at the end of the inhalation and at the beginning of the exhalation,
The little beat,
The gap.
Just bringing some attention to that space and letting yourself fall into the stillness there,
Letting your breath and your body settle into a natural stillness.
Now calling to mind someone in your life who loves you or loved you unconditionally without your having to be worthy or deserving.
This could be a person in your life or a pet.
And if you have trouble thinking of someone,
It's fine to imagine such a person,
To imagine such an unconditional love.
And letting yourself experience the whole aura and field of this love for you,
Bathing in that heartfelt affection,
Affection for you.
If you're picturing a person or a pet,
It might help to think of a particular moment when your heart just swelled with the warmth of the affection you felt in that moment.
And let yourself fully be there experiencing that love,
Soaking into your bones,
Into your cells,
Into your marrow.
And then letting go of the memory and just continuing to bask in the feeling of that affection.
A love that restores you to wholeness,
That reminds you of your wholeness,
That heals everything inside you.
You might picture this love as a column of liquid light flowing from the top of your head down through your whole body.
And with each breath,
Drawing that light deeper into you,
Drawing that light,
Warm,
Golden,
Glowing light into your heart area,
Letting it touch all the parts of you,
Flowing down through your belly,
Out through your hands and your feet,
Down into the earth.
Letting that warm,
Golden light meet any part of you that may feel resistant or unworthy.
Picturing that light filling you like water filling a glass until all of you,
All of your cells glow with the light of that love.
Letting yourself be in a receptive mode.
No need to try to make anything happen.
Just let yourself be willing to receive the way you might receive the sunlight warming your face.
And then letting yourself become both the source and the recipient of this light.
Cradling your own heart in this feeling of love and total acceptance for yourself,
Exactly as you are.
Nothing to fix.
Let yourself bathe in your own kind regard.
Pouring yourself into this life,
Into your day,
Into your body,
As an act of love.
Whatever this light touches,
Begins to feel whole again.
So just let yourself sit for a minute,
Not forcing anything.
Just picturing this unconditional love,
This warm glow of light pouring through you,
Touching every part of you,
Leaving nothing unmet.
Experiencing it as pure gift.
Having the courage to say yes to this love.
This love that you are.
This love that is your true essence.
And now with this warm glow of love,
Having activated your heart,
Whisper to yourself,
Or hear it whisper to you on the wind,
May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May I experience ease of well being.
At first it may feel artificial to say these things to yourself.
Who is doing the wishing?
Who is receiving the wishes?
Just let these questions dissolve into the feeling of being loved.
Have the courage to feel it deeply.
Why wish yourself well this way?
Because you're not separate from the universe that gave rise to you.
Offering yourself this kindness is a way of tuning your instrument before you take it out into the world.
Feeling it as deeply as you can.
May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May I experience ease of well being.
And now expanding the field of this loving kindness to others.
Starting with a person who is easy to love.
Someone in your life,
Living or past,
For whom you have great affection.
Holding them sweetly in your heart and wishing them well.
May they be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May they experience ease of well being.
May this person dear to me,
For whom I have great affection,
Be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole.
May they experience ease of well being.
And now expanding the field of your love,
This energy from your heart even further to someone for whom you feel more neutral.
This might be someone in the circle of your life who you see regularly,
But perhaps don't know their name.
A store clerk,
A neighbor,
Someone you've passed on the street.
Maybe it's the person who delivers your mail.
And bringing this person into your heart,
Into this glow of light in your heart,
And wishing that they too may be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May this person be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May they experience ease of well being.
May this more neutral person in your life be happy.
May they be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May they too experience ease of well being.
And now expanding the field of your loving kindness to include someone who may feel a little problematic in your life.
Someone you may have some aversion to or even dislike for.
If you're doing this meditation for the first time,
There's no need to pick the most difficult person.
Start with someone you feel comfortable with.
But perhaps not inclined to offer your goodwill towards.
And let the field of loving kindness in your heart expand.
Knowing that this person too wishes to be happy.
May they be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May they experience ease of well being.
May this person be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May they experience ease of well being.
With each concentric circle,
Feeling the field of your loving kindness expand,
Feeling its boundlessness.
There is no limit to your love,
To your goodwill.
Now extending your loving kindness as far as it wishes to go.
This might be to animals,
To trees in your environment,
To your neighborhood,
To the landscape around you.
It could include those who are imprisoned or hospitalized.
It could even include political leaders with whom you have great disagreement.
Knowing that we all have the same aspirations to be happy and not suffer.
So without forcing anything,
Letting the field of your loving kindness expand as far as it naturally wishes to go.
May all of these beings near and far be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May they be happy and contented.
May they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May they experience ease of well being.
May they experience delight in their existence.
May the planet itself,
The beautiful earth,
Be safe and free and protected from harm.
May she be happy and contented.
May she be healthy and whole.
May the planet experience ease of well being.
May she delight in her existence.
These simple wishes of kindness are very powerful.
Even one inner gesture of goodwill radiates out through the universe,
Like the ringing of a tuning fork to which others can attune.
In practicing loving kindness,
We are its beneficiaries.
If you enjoy this practice,
You might invite these simple phrases into your day as you walk down the street,
When you see a stranger,
When you see a bird on a branch,
When you pass a tree,
When you see someone waiting for a bus,
You might wish that that person,
That being might be safe and free and protected from inner and outer harm.
That they might be happy and contented.
That they might be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
Wishing that that being may experience ease of well being.
The more you practice loving kindness,
The more you will notice that this love in your heart is your natural state.
That it takes much more effort to resist this natural love at the core of our being than it does to simply release it.
We'll close by offering loving kindness to all of those who have ever listened to this meditation and who will ever listen to it.
This collective of love that our hearts are part of.
This sacred heart to which we all belong.
May all of us be safe and free and protected from inner and outer harm.
May we be happy and contented.
May we be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May we experience ease of well being.
May you delight in this life.
Be well my friend.
