Metta: February 5 - 11

Tara Brach describes mindfulness and metta or loving kindness as two wings of a bird:

With the wing of mindfulness, you develop the capacity to observe nonjudgmentally

and allow things to be as they already are.

With the kindness wing, you cultivate a friendly and compassionate stance

toward what is happening.

And you need both wings to fly.

Tara Brach

Practice

The usual custom is to repeat phrases like these for various groups of people. Here is the version I learned:

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be safe from inner and outer danger.

May I be well in body and mind.

May I be happy and at ease.

Repeat these phrases again but offering them on behalf of someone you love, like a family member or a close friend. The next time, offer them for a neutral person, like the clerk who bags your groceries. The fourth time, offer them for a difficult person, don't start with your archenemy, but maybe the person who just cut you off in traffic. The last time, offer the phrases for all beings everywhere.

Check out the 11 minute Metta Meditation below for an audio version of this week's practice.