Dear friends,
Welcome to this meditation on loving kindness,
Which I hope will be beneficial to you.
There are many benefits attached to the practice.
When we practice loving kindness towards ourselves,
We develop a deeper sense of self-acceptance,
Self-compassion.
When we extend loving kindness to other people,
It encourages feelings of empathy,
Feelings of understanding,
Connection.
The words we use in loving kindness meditation generate positive intentions and blessings.
We actively wish for the happiness and well-being of everyone,
Of all beings.
There are so many reasons why this practice will be seen to be of help in our day-to-day lives.
Anyway friends,
Enough about the theory,
Now let us get down to the practice itself.
So please make sure you're sitting comfortably.
Our eyes can be opened or closed as you wish.
What you want to achieve is an alert but a relaxed type of posture.
We begin by concentrating on our breathing for a few moments.
This practice of breathing in in awareness helps to bring us into the here and the now.
No need for big breaths,
No need for special breaths,
Just breathing in and breathing out and noticing our breathing.
This is a good exercise in concentration and as we all know it's so easy to be distracted.
We find it difficult to concentrate.
Thoughts will cross our minds during this breathing exercise,
We can be sure of this,
But no worries,
Just let them be.
No argument with the distractions,
No fuss,
Let them drift in and out like clouds in the sky.
We are just sitting and breathing.
Let's have a one minute pause for this.
Welcome back.
I hope you managed to find some periods of concentration during that simple 60 second pause.
And now for our loving kindness meditation.
We begin the practice by wishing thoughts of loving kindness to ourselves.
We wish ourselves well and then step by step we extend these thoughts out and out until we extend loving kindness blessings on the whole of existence.
Let's take a moment now to centre ourselves.
To turn our attention inward.
You might find it helpful to place your hands on your chest and feel your heartbeat.
Just consider your own life's journey to this point.
All that has gone before,
All that has gone to bring you to the place where you are today.
And keeping an image of yourself in your mind,
You might repeat these thoughts silently after me.
May I be filled with love and kindness.
May I be happy,
May I be at peace and at ease.
May I be healthy and strong in mind and body.
May I accept myself fully with all my imperfections and vulnerabilities.
May I learn to silence my inner critic.
May I grant myself the gift of forgiveness.
May I be surrounded by people who love and care for me and I for them.
May I live with joy in my heart.
May I be saved from harm and trouble.
May I notice many reasons for gratitude every day of my life.
May I be filled with love and kindness.
Let's allow ourselves one minute for these kind thoughts about ourselves to sink in.
Let's wish that we ourselves will be filled with love and kindness.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
Next we move on to bring to mind someone we love,
Someone whom we care deeply about.
This could be a husband or a wife or a partner.
It could be a family member,
A close friend.
Just bring this person into consciousness.
Imagine you have a photograph of them in your hands.
Reflect on the qualities that make this person so special to you.
Think about the love,
The support and the happiness that this person brings into your life.
Can you notice the warmth you feel when you think about this person?
So now we move on to wish this person well.
May this person be happy,
Peaceful and loved.
May he or she enjoy good health and well-being.
May they be surrounded by loving relationships.
May this person that I love fulfil their dreams and aspirations.
May they experience deep joy and inner peace.
May they be supported and guided through life's challenges.
May this person feel valued and appreciated for who they are.
May he or she find strength,
Courage and resilience.
May this person that I care about be protected from harm and suffering.
May they know that they are deeply loved and cherished.
May they be happy,
Peaceful and loved.
And again we allow ourselves one minute for these kind thoughts to sink in.
May this person that we care about be happy,
Peaceful and loved.
Next we move on to consider people who are a little more removed from us.
These are individuals whom you would consider as neutral or only vaguely familiar.
You don't know them very well but you have encounters with them in the course of your life.
They might be workers in a local business.
They might be more remote colleagues at work rather than someone sharing a desk with you.
They could be people living in the neighbourhood but not close neighbours.
People you pass regularly in the course of your day or your week.
So you wouldn't call these people your friends as such.
They're simply vague acquaintances.
But notice how you have a common shared humanity with these individuals.
Yes you have only a superficial connection with them and they remain relatively unknown to you on a personal level.
But they too have their story.
Just like you and me,
Just like all of us,
They desire happiness.
Just like you and me,
They too experience the joys and the sorrows of life,
The ups and downs of everyday life.
So keeping people like this in mind,
We offer these thoughts of loving kindness.
May all those I encounter experience happiness and well-being.
May strangers I pass by find happiness and contentment in their lives.
May those I have met briefly be surrounded by love and support.
May all individuals I encounter find the strength to overcome challenges.
May everyone I come across experience kindness and compassion.
May the lives of those I know little about be filled with joy and fulfilment.
May the people I see on a daily basis find inner peace and serenity.
May all those I encounter be free from suffering and may they find happiness.
May the lives of people in my community be enriched with love and harmony.
May all individuals I come into contact with be blessed with loving kindness.
Again,
One minute to allow these thoughts to sink in.
May all the individuals I come in contact with be blessed with loving kindness.
Now we move on to a more challenging part of the practice,
Relationships that present difficulties.
We bring to mind someone we might have problems with.
You know the people,
Difficult to please people,
People who are a little bristly.
You have to watch your words with them.
We all know someone who fits into this category.
It might be a co-worker,
A family member and it might be someone you can't easily avoid.
We have to remember that this difficult person is human as well.
It will help us send out loving thoughts to them if we reflect on the struggles that they might be facing,
The pain they might carry with them.
What has made them the way they are?
What has made them become a troublesome person?
Their difficult behaviour might result from wounds and insecurities that they've had to endure maybe over a long time.
So let's see if we can cultivate a sense of empathy,
A genuine wish for their well-being,
As we say.
May this person find peace and healing in their heart.
May this difficult person be free from anger,
Resentment and pain.
May this person experience compassion and understanding.
May this troublesome person find a path towards inner transformation.
May they be surrounded by positive influences.
May this person know that they are worthy of love and acceptance.
Difficult people are sad people.
So may this sad person find forgiveness and may they release any suffering.
May they learn and grow from their experiences.
May they find peace in their relationships and interactions.
May this difficult person experience deep happiness and fulfilment.
And again,
A one-minute pause so that these thoughts of loving kindness can sink in to the difficult people in our lives.
May this difficult person find peace in their relationships and interactions.
Finally,
We expand our awareness to bring in all beings everywhere.
Humans,
Animals,
All living beings of land,
Sea and air.
This time we reflect on the interconnectedness of all life and the shared desire of all living beings for freedom from suffering.
I'm sure we have all heard of the butterfly effect.
The butterfly effect reminds us that the seemingly insignificant actions we take can have far-reaching consequences.
It demonstrates the interconnectedness of all things.
How our smallest acts of kindness,
Compassion and love can create a ripple effect that positively impacts the world.
So take a moment now to notice how our individual actions and intentions have this power.
All we do,
All we say has an effect upon ourselves and on everyone around us.
So we try now to generate a sense of compassion and a genuine wish for the well-being of all beings everywhere.
May all beings be free from suffering and experience true happiness.
May all living creatures be treated with kindness and respect.
May all beings feel a sense of interconnectedness and unity.
May peace and harmony prevail in every corner of the world.
May all individuals,
Regardless of differences,
Find love and acceptance.
May all sentient beings live in harmony with nature and the environment.
May compassion and empathy guide all our actions.
May all beings be free from fear,
Violence and injustice.
May love and understanding replace hatred and division.
May the world be filled with love,
Compassion and lasting peace.
A final one-minute pause.
Now that we've practised loving kindness in relation to these categories of people and out into the world,
Let's spend the next minute bringing ourselves back to this present moment and hopefully noticing the benefit of this practice.
Welcome back.
And you know we can practice something along these lines in our own words whenever we wish.
The formula is not set in stone.
We can sit for a short loving kindness meditation which is simply dedicated to one person and we can leave it at that.
Maybe someone who's going through a particular difficulty.
This can be compressed into five minutes of true love and compassion whenever we wish.
Some closing words as we end our meditation.
May all beings,
Including myself,
Be filled with love and kindness.
May we live with open hearts and compassionate minds.
May we be happy,
Peaceful and free from suffering.
May our actions,
Thoughts and words contribute to the well-being and happiness of all.
May we embrace our interconnectedness and cultivate a world of love,
Harmony and understanding.
May the light of loving kindness guide us on our way.
May we be blessed with love,
Joy and inner peace.
May it be so.
And may love and kindness ripple out from this time and place to touch the lives of all beings everywhere.
Namaste.
