Loving Kindness is a term and practice familiar to many religions and philosophies world wide and for over 2000 years at least. Specifically it is an important practice in Buddhist teachings and a powerful foundation for any personal development or spiritual practice. One term for this which I love to use I learned from Pema Chodron is “Unlimited Friendliness”.
In my Weekly Meditation Group we often revisit this practice and I encourage this philosophy to be explored by my clients as a powerful point of focus and another of many ways to practice meditation.
The practice of maitr? (sanskrit) as it’s sometimes called usually starts with an experience Loving Kindness to ourselves. We then express Loving Kindness to someone we easily and genuinely feel this state towards. Then expanding our experience of Loving Kindness radiate further to include in our practice people we deem as neutral – people we have no strong emotions associated with, either negative or positive. To expand even further we can then introduce this feeling of loving kindness to those we feel negative feelings towards – a perceived “enemy” and then finally we expand to include all “sentient” beings in the universe; this of course includes “self”.
Thich Nhat Hanh (Thây), expresses this as not only to have the intention of Loving Kindness – to also have the capacity for showing or expressing this loving kindness to self and others.
We can encounter many versions of this practice and finding one that resonates with you is the key. Having the intention is a great place to start and helps us to develop the capacity to express Loving Kindness.
Here is one of several ways I choose to teach this process to my weekly meditation group and you can find this in an excellent book “The Attention Revolution” by B. Alan Wallace. I have quoted some of his words exactly from his book.
First, taking time in sitting meditation to experience the breath; just noticing breathing and not trying to change it, allowing the nervous system to settle and noticing the physical sensations in your body. Become the observer of your experience allowing a sense of softness (relaxation) stillness and clarity.
Taking the time to sit and settle allows you to settle into a place where creativity and imagination can become more powerfully experienced.
Next – allowing your imagination to express itself ask yourself 3 questions allowing time between each question to fully explore the potential answers with your imagination creativity and intuition.
- “What would I love to receive from the world in order to have a happy, meaningful and fulfilling life? Some of these things may be tangible goods, such as food, lodging, clothing and medical care. Other requisites for your well-being may be intangible, such as harmony in your environment, the warm companionship of others, and wise counsel to guide you on your spiritual journey.”
- “What kind of person do I want to become? What personal qualities do I want to possess?”
- “What would I love to offer the world, to those around me and to the environment at large? What kind of mark would I like to leave on the world?”
In all three questions think of the tangible and intangible aspects of your desires. Looking at the practical and the heartfelt maybe one way to experience these aspects.
Allow your imagination to guide you from your intuition as well as consciously visualising that which you are already aware of as desires to meet your basic needs. In doing so expand holistically to include all possibilities of the people who might assist you in your quest. Expand to see yourself gratefully receiving all you need and want and seeing how your receiving your desires helps fulfil the desires of other people.
In allowing your imagination free reign in this meditation you may be surprised where your intuition takes you in inspiring you, and finding new ways to achieve your dreams.
As you see yourself with the answers you seek allow your feelings of fulfilment and gratitude spread out to all other beings, knowing you wish for them to also experience the genuine happiness you experience, as you fulfil your grandest dreams and see others fulfil theirs too.
Take a few moments to come back to breath awareness, allowing yourself to be fully present in your body and taking time to just be.
Writing down your experience in a journal is also a powerfully important practice and allows integration of the information on another level. After writing about your meditation, drawing a picture (simple or elaborate as you like) helps integration of this experience on another level again.
May we all enjoy happiness and its causes!
Here are some links to more information where you can learn about Buddhist Loving Kindness practices.
Love and light to all
