Loving Yourself And All Beings

Open your heart to a love and appreciation for yourself and all beings. By tapping into our care for loved ones we help to open a similarly compassionate space for ourselves. Yanai guides this process and enriches it with nature poetry from Mary Oliver and words from the Buddha.

Transcript

Continuing today in this practice,

We began to explore yesterday of turning towards,

Of connecting with and of cultivating a quality of friendliness and kindliness that we can extend to others and to ourselves.

Again beginning,

Just taking a few moments to connect with your body,

Sitting right here just as you are.

Taking a moment to allow your body to be as comfortable and at ease as it may be at this time.

And again initially just bringing your attention to the region of the central of your chest,

Middle of the torso,

Middle of the upper torso,

The heart center.

And just breathing with and breathing through this area of your body,

Being in contact with it as you sense the movement of your breathing.

And just breathing naturally.

Taking a moment to reflect on and to contemplate the value,

The importance,

The preciousness of kindness in our world and in ourselves,

In our lives.

Small acts of kindness make such a difference.

And the very openness of our heart is a precious thing to us,

Not always available but cherished when it is.

Meaning it's not easy to stay open in a world that at times is challenging,

Threatening,

Confusing,

Painful.

Also just acknowledging,

Perhaps even forgiving ourselves for whatever may be difficult or limited in our own capacity to connect with our heart's sense of friendliness and of caring.

So not making unreasonable demands or expectations upon ourselves in this practice.

We just see what's possible,

Understanding that all things arise out of conditions and we're not in control of outcomes.

Although our intention and our engagement in practice is one of those conditions which does make a difference,

Contributes to what is possible.

And so then just again turning to some being who you feel you'd like to spend some time with,

You're drawn to just spend a little time caring for,

Wishing well for,

Not looking for the right person or the right being.

Could be a human being,

Other than human being.

Doesn't even have to be a living being.

Could be a being who's no longer alive.

Could be a being like a beloved favorite cuddly toy that when we turn towards we just feel our heart lighten up with a smile.

Or someone for whom that's our natural or easy response,

Who we easily appreciate,

Feel connection to,

Caring for.

And just taking a few moments to feel the sense of this being,

Perhaps bringing an image to mind or a felt sense of this being or recollecting a time we spent with them that was precious or important for us.

Where they touched us or we appreciated them.

And from that basis of connection and of appreciation,

We can just wish well for them in words or just in a felt sense of warmth.

Whatever we might wish for this being,

May you be happy and peaceful.

May you be healthy and well.

May you be safe from harm and danger.

May you care for yourself with ease and joy.

Words such as these or maybe different words.

Equally not using words at all if that's what's useful for you.

Maybe just feeling the sense of or inviting the sense of warmth,

Kindness,

Friendliness extending out from your own being,

Your own body,

Your own heart.

Extending this towards the being you've chosen.

To touch them,

To hold them,

To wish them well.

Without any demand that you feel something particular.

Although what you're doing produces some result or effect for them.

Just aligning with this possibility of kindness,

Friendliness,

Heartfulness is a natural expression of caring for another,

Appreciating another,

Feeling connected to another.

Taking a few moments to practice in this way.

Wishing well,

Extending kindness to the being you've chosen.

Just for now.

Once more.

And your with frankness.

If your body is uncomfortable,

Have permission to change or adjust the posture.

If your body is tired,

Have permission to relax your body down,

To rest your torso upon the ground in front of you or your knees if you're in a chair,

With an intention for kindness as you practice.

If your body is tired,

Have permission to relax your torso upon the ground in front of you or your knees if your body is in a chair,

With an intention for kindness as you And you can just gently and slowly come to some completion with this being you're extending kindliness to just allowing this offering to find its conclusion and bringing your attention again into your body more fully into the region in the central area of your upper chest the heart center your upper torso the middle chest breathing in the heart center noticing however this part of your body feels right now maybe soft and warm but equally maybe cool or hard maybe tender and sensitive maybe not feeling anything at all and that's okay just noticing how it is for you one of the important aspects of this practice is bringing kindness towards ourselves and sometimes for many of us we find this not easy we can be so hard on ourselves as human beings so aware of the places we may not have quite met our own demands or expectations or those of us and yet so important we open our hearts to ourselves so just taking a moment to honor the goodness of your intention in this practice to cultivate kindness and friendliness and trusting in our own worthiness to receive kindness from ourselves we could listen I think well to the words of Mary Oliver in her poem the wild geese she writes you do not have to be good you do not have to crawl on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting you have only to let the softer animal of your body love what it loves tell me about the spear yours and I will tell you about my meanwhile the world goes on meanwhile the Sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes over the prairies and the deep trees the mountains and the rivers meanwhile the wild geese high in the clean blue air are heading home again whoever you are no matter how lonely the world offers itself to your imagination calls to you like the wild geese harsh and exciting over and over announcing your place in the family of things you do not have to be good you have only to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves and so just taking a moment to sense your own being body heart and mind wherever you find yourself now in your life at this point in the journey that began when you were born a tiny baby vulnerable and helpless precious and without responsibility and this journey in which we will all one day come to an end and we too will be in the time of our death and we too will be in the time of our own ending of the journey our own death we find ourselves here wherever that is for you right now and just as we might wish well for the little baby we once were when we were born and we would equally wish well for the being we will be in the days or the moments before the ending of our life can we not also wish well for ourselves here this is the invitation of this practice and so taking a moment to sense what it is you might wish for yourself not needing to imagine you need to earn or deserve this but just because you too are a precious being as are all beings you too are a part of a web of life that is blessed that is sacred and to wish well for this being too that we call ourselves maybe using words maybe using touch the soft palm of your hand may wish to extend friendliness to yourself to your body maybe a sense of just offering warmth to this being that we call me may I may you be happy and peaceful may I may you be healthy and well may I may you be safe from harm and danger may I may you care for yourself with ease and joy offering words such as this that can carry that intention of well-wishing if you find that useful we're just letting the expression of that intention be offered and the vibration of your body or the sense of like light or warm water rippling away and towards one's own being from one's heart perhaps imagining yourself smiling at some time of well-being in your life that you might wish for or remembering the smile of someone who cared for you who you trusted that they wished you well what that felt like to feel their care and friendliness and extending that to yourself without trying to force anything to happen you're seeing what's possible and again whatever your responses might be whatever arises for you just allowing that including making no demands or expectations not needing to evaluate what's happening according to the experience that arises and if you'd like to continue extending kindness and friendliness towards yourself you're very welcome to do so this is something we can never have done too much of as the Buddha once observed we could search the whole world over and we would not find another being more deserving of our love and friendliness than ourselves and if you wish you could just allow that sense of care or friendliness to extend from where you are to spread out into the space around you to touch to include into embrace your companions here in this meditation wall including yourself and them too in this field of friendliness appreciation and care wishing well for these beings who like yourselves find themselves in the journey of life and here together with us cultivating the possibility of friendliness kindliness and care allowing and inviting natural capacity of our own to become available there's an offering to each other to ourselves to this world and we can even open up further to include all beings all the lives in the sense of well-wishing extending this offering of kindness of care to all of life to all the lives may all beings be happy and peaceful may all beings be healthy and well may all beings be safe from harm and danger may all beings be able to care for themselves with ease and joy may all that lives and all that is abide in well-being and in freedom as we conclude the meditation just slowly allowing yourself to gather your attention again back into your body into the area upper torso the heart center with allowing and kindness for whatever may be your experience so far as that is possible and again just breathing with your heart breathing through the heart center and taking a moment to appreciate yourself for engaging in this practice so important and deeply needed for each of us for our communities and for our world that we bring kindness from our hearts into this life that we share may we all abide in love and kindness may the world be filled with friendliness and care and may our own practice here and beyond be an offering in the service of this you