So settling in to this Metta meditation,
Find a comfortable seated position,
Sitting with a relaxed but straight posture,
With your shoulders relaxed,
Allowing your spine to lengthen upwards,
And let your hands rest comfortably in your lap,
Gently closing your eyes,
Settling into the awareness of your body,
Noticing how your body is feeling in this present moment.
Be open to whatever is to be experienced.
Closing to the breath,
Noticing your body expand on your inhale,
And relax on your exhale.
In this practice,
We'll be cultivating love and kindness.
We all have within us this natural capacity for loving kindness,
A relationship that is unconditional and open,
Gentle,
And supportive.
Opening kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart to ourselves and to others.
It's a wish that everyone may be happy.
We begin with developing loving kindness towards ourselves,
Allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
Allow yourself to remember and open up to your basic goodness.
You might remember times you have been kind or generous.
If this is difficult,
You can imagine yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Or you may recall the unconditional love you felt from a beloved pet.
It may help to use the imagination and to picture yourself as a young child standing before you,
Perhaps four or five years of age.
If that allows tender feelings of kindness to flow more easily.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth or heat in the face,
A smile,
A sense of expandedness.
This is loving kindness,
A natural feeling that is accessible to all of us,
Always resting with this feeling of open unconditional love for a few breaths.
Letting yourself bask in the energy of loving kindness,
Breathing it in and breathing it out,
Inviting feelings of peace and acceptance.
So beginning now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving kindness to yourself.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
And now repeating these words,
Allow yourself to feel a warm glow.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
Now you can open the circle of loving kindness by bringing to mind someone who is dear to you,
Someone whom you care about and who has always been supportive.
Reflect on the basic goodness of this person,
Sensing what it is in particular that you've loved about him or her.
In your heart,
Feel your appreciation for this dear one and begin your simple offering.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
Now bring to mind a neutral person.
This is someone you might see regularly but don't know well.
It might be a neighbour,
A grocery store clerk.
Bring this person to mind now.
And repeat the words of loving kindness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
And now if it's possible for you,
Bring to mind someone with whom you've had a difficult relationship.
Perhaps it's someone you don't like to feel sympathy or compassion for.
Seeing if it's possible to let go of feelings of resentment and dislike for this person.
Reminding yourself to see this person as a whole being.
Deserving of love and kindness.
As someone who feels pain and anxiety.
As someone who also suffers.
Seeing if it's possible to extend to this person the words of loving kindness in your mind.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
Now allow your awareness to open out in all directions.
Yourself,
A dear one,
A neutral person,
And a difficult person.
And for all beings,
Humans and animals living everywhere.
Living in richness,
Poverty,
War,
Peace,
Hunger,
Abundance.
Fear of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings awaken and be free.
May all beings be happy.
Allowing yourself to bask in all this loving kindness energy created.
Allowing your breath to bring in all this loving kindness.
Sending it throughout your body.
And then sending it out throughout the world.
Sitting for a while and basking in the energy of loving kindness that you've generated here.
And now bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend kindness to yourself.
Notice how loving kindness feels within you.
And now gently bringing this practice to a close.
Knowing you can access these feelings of loving kindness at any moment throughout your day.
Gently connecting with your breath and the feeling of loving kindness.
Presented by Sir Peace Guan you
