Week 5 Loving-Kindness to the World
"The rule in loving-kindness practice is to follow the way that most easily opens your heart."
—Jack Kornfield
In this final week of May we attempt to extend our loving-kindness meditation outward even further. Everything we have practiced this past month has led us to this moment. Each practice is a suggestion, an opening of our perspective, as Jack Kornfield states, only you know what will work for you. All the practices over the past few months strengthen our awareness to encourage the feelings of loving-kindness and to open our hearts. One thing that always remains solid is we always start with ourselves.
Say these words to yourself:
May I be safe
May I be healthy
May I be happy
May I be at ease
May I be filled with loving-kindness
May I be peaceful
Sit for 30 seconds and feel the power of the words, let them fill your heart.
Moving on with the practice, think about all your friends, family, their friends and families, all the people in your town. Now extend to all the people in your state, your country, the world. Does it matter that you do not know them? No, because we are aware that all people have the same needs and desires as us. We are all linked by our humanity and our sameness. Yes, we have differences, but the essence of each one of us is the same.
Offer these words to everyone in the world:
May you be safe
May you be healthy
May you be happy
May you be at ease
May you be filled with loving-kindness
May you be peaceful
Three times a day, a small step to creating a more compassionate world.