Coogee Buddhist Group

When I sit down ,,,,

On Tue, 9 July, 2019 - 05:10
Dhammalata's picture
Dhammalata

As I settled down to sit this morning aware that I would be doing metta practice, I reflected that I was commencing another round of training. 

To do metta is to train our mind to be kind.

The longer I do the practice the more I come to an understanding that whatever one does in the practice that wakes one up to the value of kindness is valid. It may be gently turning over the traditional phrases ‘May I / they be well, happy, free from suffering and at peace’ or it may be just being present with myself or the person in a generous, empathic and supportive way. It may even be using my imagination to enter my own or another’s life with a kindly curiosity.

In a sense  you can’t get metta practice wrong … you can only drift away from the integrity of unconditional kindness or perhaps try to hard ….

So if the practice gets a little dry or repetitive I suggest playing a bit in the practice. Try things …. take the person you’re practising with for a walk, imagine what they’re doing right now, just be with them, imagine what things they are hoping will come to pass for them ….. imagine that this act of generosity can actually be experienced by them ……. they just, wherever they are, are infused with a gentle warmth that somehow has coloured their life.

Don’t be too precious with it ….. what really matters is our heart opening and being in touch with kindness and the beauty that is irrevocably entwined with it.

Much metta to you right now dear reader

Feelin’ it??

Dharmalata

Meditation as usual this week

Tuesday 6 - 7.30 pm

Sunday  8 - 9 am

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