Today, I'm going to lead a traditional loving-kindness meditation.
There are many, many versions of loving-kindness meditation, and I encourage you to explore
that if you're so inclined or interested, and find different loving-kindness meditations,
keep exploring, and see what resonates best with you in your practice.
And in this traditional loving-kindness meditation that I'll offer today, we use words and this
intention of offering love and tenderness.
This is our anchor, so to speak, for this practice.
We use the words to anchor our thoughts, to come back to these thoughts, and to keep them
focused best we can with this sense of embracing, embracing ourselves, embracing
all beings with a sense of kindness and love.
So with this loving-kindness meditation practice, we first begin, we begin with someone who you
naturally think of when you think of loving-kindness.
For many of us, there's an immediate connection when we consider love or as a concept or hear
the words loving-kindness.
Perhaps there's an immediate connection.
Perhaps an image comes up for you.
And this being may be someone who is still with you.
Maybe someone who is no longer physically here with you.
It could be an animal or any being, really.
And so simply beginning first with that person.
And then we'll move on to other people to offer loving-kindness to, including ourselves.
And the encouragement as we go through this practice is to notice the workings of the mind.
The thinking mind tends to maybe start the laundry list of who should be on the list, who shouldn't
be on the list.
And as we've been practicing in our classes and in our lives, certainly today, just simply
noticing this thinking mind, this activity of the mind, and then come back, come back to
this intention around cultivating a sense of embracing love and tenderness, a sense of opening
the heart, and simply allowing your attention to rest on one being that you'd like to choose
for each of the exercises around loving-kindness.
So just the encouragement to acknowledge when your mind wanders, and again, perhaps just that
smile to notice it, and then coming back, coming back to the practice, coming back to this
intention to tend to our own hearts and then open up these full and vibrant hearts to offer this to
others.
So let's begin.
First, simply settling into a comfortable seated position or lying down position or standing.
Remember, you're in choice.
So at this point in the day, what would be a supportive posture for you to practice loving-kindness?
And either closing the eyes for that bit of respite for our neural pathways, or maybe a soft and
unfocused gaze, simply letting in some light and allowing the attention to turn inwardly for this practice.
Perhaps beginning with dropping into the breath, simply noticing this miracle of breath, this moving
in, receiving.
With each exhale, perhaps imagine letting go or release of what no longer is serving our bodies,
offering that out to nourish the plants and the world.
But coming back to the breath, coming back to this moment, perhaps dropping into the breath,
dropping into the body, if that's a more comfortable anchor for you.
And always knowing that at any point in any of our practices, if there's any
sense that there is an overwhelm or any feeling of too much, you can move away from the practice or what I'm
inviting in terms of the loving-kindness words, and just come back to the breath, come back to the body,
or move away, open the eyes, if that's what you need, remembering that in our intention to practice,
it's our intention to treat ourselves with love and kindness first, best we can.
So as we begin loving-kindness meditation, bringing to mind that being who perhaps showed up readily for you,
or maybe not, maybe it takes a little while to identify someone who we would want to offer this to.
But whatever you decide, simply allowing your attention to rest, perhaps having
an image in the mind's eye, if that's helpful, or simply dropping into the breath and the body,
as we begin to recite the words, as we offer our loving-kindness to this person that we
naturally and lovingly bring to mind.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live with ease and contentment.
And we'll continue to offer these words, or perhaps other words.
The words are not as important as the intention.
And finding words that maybe resonate with you, that bring to your mind and heart this sense of
offering loving-kindness, that's what matters.
So simply using the words that work best for you, not worrying about mixing up the words,
or there's no right or wrong word to use here.
It's simply bringing to mind this intention and using the words in this practice as an anchor to
keep us with this intention of offering out loving-kindness.
And we'll practice for a few more rounds of words, and then in silence, choosing your words,
your cadence for a few moments.
So again, offering this loving-kindness meditation to someone who you naturally feel a sense of love to.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
And now continuing with your words of loving-kindness.
Continue to offer the words that most resonate with you.
As we practice loving-kindness to.
Someone that.
We've chosen to offer this tender
practice to this morning, this afternoon.
Now we'll move on to continue to offer out this intention of loving-kindness.
And next we'll look to identify a neutral person.
Someone that you don't really know.
Perhaps you don't even know their name.
It may be someone at your local coffee shop that you see regularly or grocery store.
Perhaps someone you see walking around the neighborhood.
Or someone in your community.
You don't have any feelings of love or tenderness towards this person.
You don't really know them.
And you don't have any sense of not liking them.
Or having difficult feelings regarding this person.
They're just neutral.
And again, this could be a person.
It could be an animal.
And noticing again the activity of the mind.
Trying to settle on one person.
And remembering that today in practice we're simply choosing one person for this offering.
And we can offer loving-kindness to others in the future.
So this is just a choice to practice and offer loving-kindness to this one being today.
So wherever your mind is just picking one being for today.
That pops into mind that you'll offer loving-kindness to.
And again, we offer loving-kindness to this individual in this way.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe and protected.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
now for a few more moments in silence repeating to yourself your chosen words to
continue offering love and kindness to this neutral person in your life .
Now we'll continue to practice continue offering these kind wishes
and now we'll move to offering loving kindness to someone in your life that you have difficult
feelings towards perhaps negative feelings it may be someone that does not naturally come to mind
when you think of loving kindness
but someone that perhaps there's a complicated relationship there.
And the encouragement for today is not to pick the most difficult person in your life
perhaps someone that there are very strong negative feelings about.
For practice today choose someone that there's just somewhat difficult
perhaps a recent disagreement or argument.
We're not trying to choose the most difficult relationship or person today
but simply bringing to mind someone that you have a sense of
negative or complicated feelings.
And taking your time to allow your mind to settle
to pick again this one individual that you're going to be offering loving kindness to today.
And remembering that even as we offer loving kindness we're offering loving kindness best we can
and we're offering it with a sense of encouraging health happiness and love to the extent that it's available to us and to every person.
We all have different states of health or contentment so it's encouraging this
best we can
best that it's available to us.
And so bringing this person that you have a challenging or difficult relationship with to mind
perhaps visualizing them sitting across from you.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be happy and healthy.
May you live your life with ease and contentment.
And now silently continuing to offer your words of loving kindness to this individual
for a few moments together in silence.
And now, preparing to transition once again.
And this time, offering these words of loving kindness to yourself.
And even noticing anything that might come up even as we consider that.
This intention to hold yourself with tenderness and love.
To offer this genuine, loving, caring wish for you.
And if it feels awkward or difficult.
Just imagine the person that you chose at the beginning of this practice.
A person who came to mind rather readily when you thought of loving kindness.
Perhaps someone who is there for you.
Again, this person could be with you now.
They could have passed away.
Could be an animal.
So this being that you readily identified as an object of loving kindness for you.
Perhaps imagining that person sitting across the table from you.
And offering these words to you.
As we bring to mind this intention of offering loving kindness to you.
May I be safe and protected.
May I be happy and healthy.
May I live my life with ease and contentment.
May I be safe and protected.
May I be happy and healthy.
May I be safe and protected.
May I live my life with a sense of ease and contentment.
May I be safe and protected.
May I be happy and healthy.
May I live my life with a sense of ease and contentment.
May I be safe and protected.
May I be happy and healthy.
May I live my life with a sense of ease and contentment.
And now continuing on to offer these words, your words of loving kindness to you.
In silence for a few moments together.
And now one last transition.
This practice, bringing the whole world or all beings to mind, this expansive sense of offering loving kindness to all beings everywhere.
Whatever that may look like or feel like to you, look like in your mind's eye, your imagination, or however that feels to you, perhaps a sense of opening, expanding in the heart region.
But this idea of simply offering a sense of love, kindness, and compassion to all beings everywhere.
May all be safe and protected.
May all beings be happy and enjoy their best health.
May all beings have a sense of ease and contentment in life.
May all beings feel safe and protected.
May all beings be happy and enjoy their best health.
May all beings live with a sense of ease and contentment.
May all beings be safe and protected. May all beings be happy and healthy. May all beings live with ease and contentment.
And now continuing on for a few moments in practice, using your words of loving kindness in an offering to all beings.
And now, preparing to transition as we end this practice, simply taking a moment to drop
into the heart, drop into this intention to offer yourself loving kindness, and this
expansive offering out to this community here, together today, and then beyond to all beings
everywhere.
And with that, just simply following one or two rounds of breath, when you're ready, beginning
to allow some light to come in, focus, the eyes, maybe a stretch.
As we transition to our next practice, and I'll just end with a very brief quote from Kama
Chodron. Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.
So the encouragement is to continue caring for your own tender heart.
(The sound of a ringing bell.)