meditation moment

Ambika Yoga - Townsville

I have been thinking of extending my meditation practice into the area of metta meditation which comes from the Buddhist tradition of loving kindness. It is essentially a meditation about cultivating compassion and love. Can't have too much of that I say....

The idea is that you start with unconditional love and acceptance of yourself , then extend that out to family members and people you love and then to all living things. It is not about anyone deserving the compassion nor about you getting anything back from them.


I'm going to give it a whirl.

Here are the  traditional phrases or you can adjust them to suit yourself.

May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger. May I be safe and protected.

May I be free of mental suffering or distress.
May I be happy.

May I be free of physical pain and suffering.
May I be healthy and strong.

May I be able to live in this world happily,
peacefully, joyfully, with ease.

You say or think the passage several times.  Then think of someone close to you and extend these wishes to them. Feel the loving kindness.
Then move on to a neutral person, one you feel neither strong like or dislike for and extend to them loving care for their welfare.
Now here's the kicker -  move to someone you have difficulty with and extend to them the same. You can preface it with "to the best of my ability I wish you to be..."
Let the phrases spread through your body, mind and heart. 
After the difficult person you radiate these feelings out to all living things. 
Stay in touch with the  ember of warm loving kindness at the center of your being.

This is the essence of the meditation that I have paraphrased from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.