Summary: Metta translates as “loving kindness”. This meditation is built of several circles (like a pebble sending out ripples in a pond of water):
- Share Metta with yourself
- Share Metta with a loved one
- Share Metta With family
- Share Metta with friends or aquaintances
- Share Metta with someone who has been unpleasant to you
- Share Metta with all living beings.
Since we have experienced meditators today we can try to practice another technique.
We call this Practicing Metta. This technique is about we know our mind is always working. We always think. Even though we are trying to be quiet and not thinking during the meditation, we do not know how to shut our mind. By practicing Metta meditation there are are other techniques similar to this. This is about cultivating a certain thought you like.
What Will You Cultivate?
It is just like and it is very easy to understand in Minnesota, because we have seen a lot of farmers. And there are a lot of trees. Lots of trees. But, what do farmers do? They cultivate or grow something they know. They are growing something, knowing what they will harvest.
Just think, if you cultivate anxiety. What will you harvest? If you cultivate or plant anger, what will you harvest? Or, if you cultivate frustration, what will you harvest? If you cultivate greed, what will you harvest? You will definitely harvest the production of those things. Production and harvesting of greed cannot be something beautiful. Production of anger that can be something very painful or unpleasant.
Begin the Meditation
So, meditators, by knowing their mind is thinking, they are using that ability to cultivate something we know. So today, for the meditation In our usual meditation we practice it at the end of our meditation. Today we will practice it during the entire meditation.
Sit with a straight back. Drop your shoulders. Let your body relax. Feel how your body has rested. Focus your mind on the middle of your forehead. Think strongly: May I be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to me. May no difficulties come to me. May no obstacles come to me. May I be free from anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear.
May I be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May I be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. Just allow yourself to open your heart. Allow this thought to continuously grow in your heart. May I be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
Share Metta With a Loved One – Let us share this same intention with someone we love most. Just pick someone who you love most. And imagine this person is standing before you. By thinking of this person let us cultivate the same intention. May you be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to you, may no difficulties come to you. May no obstacles come to you. May you be free from anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear. May you be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May you be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
Share Metta with Family – Now think about your family. The people who are closer to you. Let us share this same intention equally into our family, with our family. May my family be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to them, May no difficulties come to them. May no obstacles come to them. May they be free from anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear. May they be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May they be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
May they be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
Share Metta With Friends and Co-Workers – Let us go into our outer circles. Let us share this same intention with our friends and co-workers. Those are the ones that share our thinking and work together. When they are unhappy they bring that unhappiness to us. When they are happy, they share their happiness with us.
So, let us cultivate this same intention and share this same intention with our friends and co-workers. May my friends and co-workers be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to them. May no difficulties come to them. may no obstacles come to them. May they be free from anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear. May they be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
Share Metta With Someone Who Has Been Unpleasant – Now, think about the people who have been unpleasant and difficult to us. Those who you do not want to spend time with. They share this unhappiness because for some reason they are either unhappy or situations make them unhappy. Let us share this same intention with them.
Those who have been unpleasant to me, be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to them. May not difficulties come to them. May no obstacles come to them. May they be free from anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear. May they be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May they be well, happy, skillful and peaceful.
Share Metta With All Living Beings – Now let us share this same intention with all living beings. By knowing all living beings want to be happy, just like I do. Nobody wants to face any difficulties or obstacles in their life. All living beings want to live long without pain. With happiness and joy. Let us continuously generate this intention of sharing loving friendliness, loving compassion, with all living beings. May all living beings… be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to us. May no difficulties come to us. May no obstacles come to us. May we be free from anger, anxiety, and fear.
May all living beings be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. Including you, your family, your friends, people you know, and people you do not know. All the visible and invisible living beings. Pets, animals, known and unknown.
May all living beings be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful. May no harm come to them. May no difficulties come to them. May no obstacles come to them. May they be free from anger, frustration, anxiety, and fear. May all living beings be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
May all living beings be well, happy, skillful, and peaceful.
Let us continuously have these two words in our heart. Let these two words grow with all intentions: Be well.
Be well. Be well. Be well. Be well.
Take a deep breath. Open your eyes mindfully.