Holiday Greetings Dear Beautiful Teachers,
It is time for celebration, our gratitude is deep and our hearts are open. As we journey into the darkest days of winter cumulating with the Winter Solstice this Sat. Dec. 21, we are guided into an extremely reflective internal state. From this internal state, we harness our highest power, our greatest potential. What better way to express this power than by sharing it with others?
Metta Kindness is a meditation practice from the Buddhist Tradition. It was in its
original form referred to as Metta Bhavana. Metta means love and bhavana cultivation of feeling state. In this meditation practice we are cultivating and spreading love, kindness, happiness and wellness. It is a simple 5 step process where we begin by offering a loving affirmation to ourselves, we then share this affirmation with loved ones, moving on to strangers, to our enemies, and finally to all beings.
I have been practicing this meditation for years and especially enjoy integrating it during this time of year. It feels so natural and satisfying to do something quiet and internal at a time when much of our activity is hectic and external. There is something about the deep darkness that accentuates the visualization. We are readily able to see the prayer radiating in all directions and blessings all beings everywhere.
It is my small yet special gift to the universe and to myself. I encourage you to take
some time in the next few days to journey inward, to relax into the womb of darkness and to spread the bhavana of loving kindness to yourself and your community. Please join me in sending yourself some love this holiday season and watch it expand in an unlimited circle of love around you!
May You Be Filled With Loving Kindness, May You Be Well, May You Be Peaceful
and At Ease, May You Be Happy!
For more details on how to practice Metta Kindness Meditation see below or
follow this link: https://thebuddhistcentre.com/
Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
With Gratitude & Love
Lauren
Metta Kindness Meditation:
The original name of this practice is metta bhavana, which comes from the Pali language. Metta means ‘love’ (in a non-romantic sense), friendliness, or kindness: hence ‘loving-kindness’ for short. It is an emotion, something you feel in your heart. Bhavana means development or cultivation. The commonest form of the practice is in five stages, each of which should last about five minutes for a beginner.
In the first stage, you feel metta for yourself. You start by becoming aware of yourself, and focusing on feelings of peace, calm, and tranquility. Then you let these grow in to feelings of strength and confidence, and then develop into love within your heart. You can use an image, like golden light flooding your body, or a phrase such as ‘may I be well and happy’, which you can repeat to yourself. These are ways of stimulating the feeling of metta for you.
In the second stage think of a good friend. Bring them to mind as vividly as you can, and think of their good qualities. Feel your connection with your friend, and your liking for them, and encourage these to grow by repeating ‘May they be well; may they be happy’ quietly to yourself. You can also use an image, such as shining light from your heart into theirs. You can use these techniques — a phrase or an image — in the next two stages as well.
Then think of someone you do not particularly like or dislike. Your feelings are ‘neutral’. This may be someone you do not know well but see around. You reflect on their humanity, and include them in your feelings of metta.
Then think of someone you actually dislike — an enemy. Trying not to get caught up in any feelings of hatred, you think of them positively and send your metta to them as well.
In the final stage, first of all you think of all four people together — yourself, the friend, the neutral person, and the enemy. Then extend your feelings further — to
everyone around you, to everyone in your neighborhood; in your town, your
country, and so on throughout the world. Have a sense of waves of loving-
kindness spreading from your heart to everyone, to all beings everywhere. Then
gradually relax out of meditation, and bring the practice to an end.
