Metta: Loving Kindness for All Beings

Transcript

[0:03] Let's practice.

[0:49] Taking our seat. Comfortably. Awake. Uplifted. Open to the world.

[1:50] Filling for a few moments into our body. At least this idea of our body that we have. And just feeling what's present. Activating our sense perceptions. Thank you.

[3:27] I'm coming right into the present moment. What's here right now? How deeply can we feel it, sense it?

[4:50] How much of the present moment can we be aware of?

[5:19] And then bringing our attention to our heart. The emotional powerhouse. And feeling in opening. Kindness. And a love. To seep out from our heart. Into our body. Maybe beginning as a seeping out. And nurturing and growing and cultivating it. To a stream. A river. A flood. This heart. An open heart of care. Friendship. Kindness. For ourself. Really unpacking the feeling behind the words. Being friendly towards ourselves. What does that feel like?

[8:18] So cultivating and growing this heart feeling of loving-kindness. And allow it to permeate every cell of our body. Bringing loving-kindness to our little toe. The back of our fingers. Our shoulders. Behind the ears. Every little spot.

[9:35] Reaching in and opening this beautiful heart of yours. Bringing it to bear. Maybe it's like laying fallow for a little while. Or maybe there's much confusion. So many stories clamoring for attention. Going below all of that. Just reaching in to this powerful heart. Bringing it to bear. On yourself. It's simple. And direct. Direct. And powerful. This burning energy of kindness and love.

[11:49] And we could bring to mind a close loved one. Animal. Human loved one. We could see them in front of us. And grow this heart energy. Loving kindness. And extend it. To envelop them also. To feel. Allowing whatever suffering. Pain or fear or disease that they may have. Or feel. Allow that to be like fuel in our heart. Growing. Our love and kindness stronger. Because of it. As we see their suffering. Our heart energy can grow stronger. Flooding their body. Every nook and cranny. Of their body. Like ours.

[14:24] And reaching further into our heart to open and open. We could extend this loving-kindness to all those in our neighborhood. We may not particularly know or know well, but we can wish for them. May they be happy. May they be healthy. May they be free from disease. May they be free from suffering.

[15:56] Wrenching open our heart if we need to. Digging deeper and opening further. Bringing our heart to bear, bringing some effort. The world needs loving-kindness, needs open hearts.

[17:09] And then, bringing to mind those. Those that we have difficulties with. Conflict. Hatred. Violence. Political differences. Confusion. Total not understanding. They too wish to be happy. And they too have a human body. Can we touch their suffering and allow it to act as fuel to our heart. And extend and include them in a generous desire that they may be happy. Opening our heart to them. Can we see them in front of us? With an open heart. Wish that they may be happy and healthy. Being free from suffering. Bringing effort to opening our heart. The world needs open hearts. Including these people. These institutions. That could be close to us. Or. More abstract. Or have caused us harm. Or others. Can we extend our heart? And be generous with our love and kindness. And gentleness.

[20:40] And extending further. How much of the world can we include? All sentient beings in our area. Our city. State. Country. Region. Continent. Can we bring our heart to bear? To open and include all sentient beings. Feeling love and kindness. In every corner. Of every body. May they be happy. May they be healthy. Can we touch the suffering of the world? And use it as fuel. To open our heart further. And burn. Brighter. With love and kindness and gentleness. And with the sincere aspiration, may all beings be happy. May all beings be healthy. May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be free from the causes and root of suffering that are present.