Extending Kindness To All Living Things

We feel "species loneliness" when we isolate ourselves from other living beings and nature itself. In this meditation, we reconnect with the entire living world by extending kindness to all beings everywhere. Some instructions are followed by a guided kindness practice.

Transcript

We'll do a Lactis today.

The cultivation of wholesome states of mind.

One breakthrough insight as far as meditation goes is that we create ourselves the conditions which exist in our minds.

We do that on a daily basis throughout our lives,

Cultivating certain mind states and then discouraging avoiding working against other minds.

There's a story which I know I've told before of the elder who was speaking to a child about the battle going on inside that it's like a fight between two wolves and one wolf is full of anger,

Envy,

Sorrow,

Regret,

Greed,

Arrogance,

Self-pity,

Guilt,

Resentment,

And false pride.

And the other wolf inside is good,

Full of joy,

Peace,

Serenity,

Humility,

Kindness,

Generosity,

And compassion.

The elder continues,

The same fight is going on inside of you and inside of every other person to the child thought for a moment and then ask which wolf will win?

And the elder replies,

The one you feed.

So that is the concentration or really the emphasis behind loving kindness or loving awareness practice.

It's one of the heart practices that also include compassion,

Empathetic joy,

And equanimity,

Which we've also talked about together.

And they give us the opportunity to directly cultivate these wholesome mind states.

And for those who may not be familiar with these practices,

They consistent in silently expressing this desire for wellness and ease and peace for yourself and for others.

And for some people,

This is actually their primary meditation practice.

So you can think of the five or the 10 minutes or whatever a day that you try to dedicate to meditation.

Some people take this on as that daily practice.

And then for the rest of us,

We all have access to these practices at any time during the day,

Either when you sense that you need to generate some kindness for yourself,

Or you find yourself in a situation in which you feel like for whatever difficulty arises that you need to send,

That those same wishes,

Kind wishes,

Both to yourself and to anyone is otherwise.

And I think one of the realizations that comes as you develop this practice is that these wholesome states of mind are deeply embedded in who we are as people.

They are part of our most authentic self.

And so we get some support or we get a little push from the universe as a whole,

Because we're really tuning into some deeper structure about how things are and what's more universally true.

I'm just back from two weeks in Africa,

In Malawi,

Coming with this friend of mine.

And I'm still trying to digest this whole experience.

One thing that deeply impressed me was this is a place where life is much more interconnected than it is for us.

And I think both of the relationship between people and the relationship between people and nature,

This is something I'd like to explore with you all more next week in that session and explore today with regard to these heart practices.

Because I think we can be tempted to think that these heart practices like loving kindness are just a good and a kind and a generous thing that we do as individuals to extend these well wishes to others.

But I think importantly,

It reveals a much deeper interconnection between us and others.

And this is part of this fundamental shift in meditation,

Which we approach through lots of different gateways,

I think,

Which is from this focus on this small me that is trying to get somewhere and trying to be someone and trying to defend some space against others to a feeling like we really depend on one another and coexist with one another and also are all identified with some bigger whole that is not just some little corner of the self.

There's an interesting concept I just learned which is called species loneliness.

I'll also talk about this next week as well.

That describes particularly in urban life how we do think that the world is just populated by a bunch of little me's running around trying to get somewhere and the sense of isolation and loneliness that this causes as we separate ourselves from all other living things and try to live just inside these little and forget the way that we're just so but more on that next week or today.

We will do one of the so we can begin by just checking in with the posture and seeing if you can make any adjustments have the feet on the floor,

Your hands side to side,

Remaining relaxed,

Not forcing the openness,

Feel the breath,

Can sense how you receive each breath given to you as your body noticing the breath steady,

Bringing to mind someone who is affirmed who you are,

Has supported you,

Relative,

One who has seen the best in you,

Who has understood something special about you,

Bring that person to mind and sense the affirmation you feel in their presence and silently direct these phrases to them.

May you be well,

You be at ease,

May you be free from inner and for a moment,

I feel that person receiving these phrases from you and smiling,

Their gratitude,

Exchange of care,

Respect and someone you do not know that well to be someone you on the street,

A neighbor you rarely see,

Bring one such person to mind and silently direct these phrases to that person.

May you be at ease,

May you be free from inner and outer moment feel that person receive these phrases from you and a person who feel some discomfort around selecting anyone who has done you real harm,

But rather someone with whom there's some tension or inability to connect person to mind and see who it is into that space where there is some tension,

Silently direct the free,

Feel that person receive these phrases from you,

May change what you're called to mind some that gives you joy,

Never had a pet at seeing outside your window in the morning picture that creature was to consider the species loneliness that occurs like that humans are alone in this world feel how the world comes alive when we think of this space as shared with many different creatures with their own beauty and the one creature that gives you joy and silently connecting with it phrases may you be well may you be at ease may you be free from inner and outer harm was to sense this creature responding to you affection and care now call to mind a place in nature some tall trees where you like to walk some favorite gardens or someplace near a beach or a lake could be a place you know well because you have been there many times or it could be someplace you visited as a child or bring this place to mind sense how it looks how it feels if you take off your shoes and walk there in your bare feet sounds that fill the air the smells feeling of a gentle breeze against your body again pause to consider this species loneliness that can befall us we live inside our small self and the difference in living connected with all living things feel how it would be to live in this shared space interconnected space in this place that you have selected these phrases to it may you be well may you be at ease be free from us to sense this place welcoming and receiving this care being together feeling these connections with other people on human beings the aliveness possible to sense interconnection without any words or phrases you'll exchange within this one every time you draw a breath feeling that hold the capacity to fill you include our practice this afternoon by dedicating it to the welfare of all beings everywhere may the wholesome effects of this practice together be for the benefit of all beings everywhere without distinction may they all experience kindness may all beings everywhere experience ease may they all wake up to their true interconnected nature or receive from the world what they need time you can come gently back as you're ready you can open your eyes