Loving kindness,
And compassion meditation.
Many of us have egos that struggle with self-grasping and attachments that lead to fear of losing what we so want to keep,
And thus we experience great suffering.
In this world of striving to find happiness in things,
People,
And experiences,
We find that when we get all that we ever thought we wanted,
Happiness is still seemingly that rainbow in the distance that we can never quite grasp.
There is no greater ally in this battle with suffering and attachments than the practice of compassion or loving kindness.
When we open our minds to the wisdom of compassion,
We will experience more clarity surrounding our aversions to suffering,
Our insistent expectations,
And the things that attract anxiety,
Fear,
And negativity.
Compassion is our greatest source for healing.
This meditation will help you nourish and fill your cup with joy,
Unblock your heart,
And transform the situation you might find yourself in.
When you feel stuck in your thought processes and beliefs,
Or lost,
Heartbroken,
And with a lack of empathy or bitterness,
This practice of loving kindness can reveal your loving,
True nature.
Begin by making yourself comfortable.
You may choose to lie down or remain seated in an upright position.
As you settle in and down,
Connect to the parts of your body grounded on the floor.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze to a point.
Recognize your friend that is always with you,
The breath,
The life-giving breath that moves within you as the body comes to stillness and the mind begins to quiet.
If you feel compelled,
Place your hand on your heart or let your focus turn to your heart space.
Notice the energy,
The vibration,
The pulse here.
Begin to connect to the energy of love.
You may choose to visualize the color of light that comes to mind or a light of love right here at your heart center.
Now go back in time and remember a time that you felt love from someone else,
A love that moved you to a point of remembering that experience.
You might think of a caregiver,
Past relationship,
Or anyone who's been kind to you previously in your life.
Recall that moment you felt loved.
Let a feeling that that experience brings up arise within your heart and fill you with a gratitude for that loving moment in your life.
As you visualize,
Sense,
Or feel this love from the past,
Your love will automatically extend out to that being who gave you compassion.
You may not feel loved in this moment or you may feel you have not been loved enough during this life,
But this particular memory evokes a knowing that you were loved once.
This remembrance invokes a sense of love for you now,
A reminder that you are worthy of love still.
Let your heart now open and the love you felt in this moment now extend beyond you to those that you are close to in your life now.
Extend that love to your friends.
Expand that love that you're feeling to your neighborhood,
Your community,
Your city,
Your state,
Your country.
Extend this feeling of love to people that you don't particularly like,
To those who have hurt you or whom you have hurt.
And lastly,
Let your love reach the boundaries of the earth and then boundless to the whole universe and into the unknown.
Your heart is open and filled with love.
As the Dalai Lama says,
No matter the difficulties that you have had with other beings in this life,
We are all humans made of flesh,
Bones,
And blood.
We all have a desire for happiness and a wish to avoid suffering.
We are the same.
Now consider a difficult relationship in your life,
Current or past,
Whatever feels safe to look at in this meditation.
Rather than see this person in their role in this life,
Mother,
Father,
Husband,
Wife,
Or child,
See them as yourself,
Another human being who struggles like you and desires the same things.
Allow your heart to open to this difficult person and sense that they are worthy of the same love and peace that you have already cultivated and expressed towards yourself in this meditation.
Your heart is open and filled with love.
Now transition to consider a person in your life that may be suffering,
A person you may feel at a loss to help,
Or a person you may have difficulty feeling compassion for.
Sense into how you would feel,
How you would wish to be treated if you put yourself in their place of suffering.
What would you want from others if you were experiencing the same suffering yourself?
Imagine yourself in their experience.
Allow this visualization to release any obstructions that keep you from feeling compassionate for this person.
Your heart is open and filled with love.
The pain and suffering you are experiencing in your life right now is simply a tiny fraction of the suffering and pain in the world.
We are collectively suffering,
But through loving kindness and compassion,
We learn not to brush it off,
To consider it normal,
Or turn our heads from it.
Instead,
I invite you to be vulnerable and let the love and grief that wells up in you provide you with the opportunity to dive deep into your heart in meditation and compassion for all beings everywhere,
For we are not separate or superior to any other being.
As you close this meditation,
Ask that all that you do,
What is in your mind,
Your words,
And your heart,
Benefit others to bring forth happiness and love,
And that you may be blessed into usefulness and transform suffering in your life and in those you encounter on your path,
Where compassion is the universal bridge to freedom from our sufferings.
May your heart be open and filled with love.
