Loving-Kindness Meditation: What Goes Around Comes Around
"The world is built with chesed (loving-kindness)" ~Psalms 89:3
Many times we are so preoccupied with our own goals and desires that it’s easy to forget that the whole world doesn’t revolve just around us. As cliché as it may sound, the happiness and woes of others (not just humans) matter, and are in fact, connected to our own happiness and woes. The well-being of the armies of factory workers in China affect us just as much as the massive amounts of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico even though we are nowhere near to any of them.
We are all interconnected, even more so in our highly globalized society, and often in ways that are beyond our wildest imagination. If our thoughts and actions are centered only around the immediate needs of ourselves and those close to us, we risk acting selfishly and adding more sufferings not just for ourselves but for others as well.
On the contrary, if each of us could begin to live with more loving-kindness and compassion, we will be able to see the same struggles others shared with us, no matter how different they may appear, and act with the same gentle loving touch we used on ourselves.
About Loving-Kindness Meditation
Today’s meditation is one good way to open our hearts beyond our immediate concerns and extend love to those that share this world with us. It is an adaptation of a traditional meditation practiced by Buddhist monks since ancient times to develop loving-kindness and compassion. This meditation is divided into three parts and each part consists of a blessing that extends positive energies to a selected person or group.
There are three interesting features in this meditation: Firstly, it’s modular and so can be practiced in its entirety or separately depending on your needs. I will explain more on how you can adapt it for your own use later. Secondly, because each part is short, you can combine it with your existing meditation practice by starting or ending it with this meditation. Lastly, loving-kindness meditation is not restricted to time spend on the meditation chair or cushion. You can do it practically anywhere: when you are queuing up for the bus, while waiting for the train to arrive, and even when you are walking down the street. Doing this wherever you go will help you to develop greater compassion and love at a faster rate.
Let us begin.
Loving-Kindness Meditation Part 1
Extending Love & Kindness
to Yourself
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Begin the meditation by taking a few deep and slow breaths to relax yourself. If this is the first time you are meditating, you may want to read the guide, Mediation for Beginners first to pick up some tips on how to breathe with greater awareness.
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Read out the following lines, softly or silently, to yourself:
May I be strong and healthy,
May I be clear and free,
May I live with love and compassion,
May I awaken to the pure light I used to be.Explanation:
May I have a strong and healthy body to carry out my missions and responsibilities,
May I have a clear and free mind that is free from distortions and attachments,
May I hear, speak, think and act with love and compassion,
May I awaken to my true nature and be the pure light that I once used to be. -
Feel the words as you’re saying, instead of reciting them mechanically. Repeat the blessing for 5 times or as long as you like.
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After you’ve finished the blessing, imagine a pure white light growing from your heart. It begins as a pin-sized white dot and grows larger and larger until it surrounds you in an energy field filled with peace, love and compassion. Stay in this glowing energy field for as long as you like.
Loving-Kindness Meditation Part 2
Extending Love & Kindness
to All Beings
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Now imagine someone that you know is sitting in front of you: a loved one, a fellow colleague or a friend. A person you know that is currently going through a tough time also makes a good candidate to send your blessing to.
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Recite the following verses, softly or silently, to him or her. Substitute the * below with the name of the person you’ve in mind.
May * be strong and healthy,
May * be clear and free,
May * live with love and compassion,
May * awaken to the pure light he/she used to be. -
Feel the words you’re saying and repeat them for 5 times or as long as you like.
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When you’ve finished reciting the blessing, once again imagine a pure white light growing from your heart. This time around, the light flows from your heart and envelops the recipient in an energy field of peace, love and compassion. Your light opens up the pure light from the person’s heart, creating a bigger, synergistic light that surrounds the two of you. See in your mind how the twice-as-strong white light is making the recipient as well as you calmer, happier and more relaxed. Hold this image in your mind for as long as you want.
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If you wish, you can also add as many people that you’d like to send your blessing to as you can accommodate in your field of loving energy. Be clear about who they are, how they look like, and how they are enjoying the shower of blessings. Each time you add one more person, the energy field extends stronger and bigger.
Loving-Kindness Meditation Part 3
Extending Love & Kindness
to Someone You Don’t Know
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Now you’ll extend your blessing to all beings — humans, animals, insects and plants; known and unknown living things; those in the air, in the sea and on the land; the tiny, in the middle and the really big ones; the newly born, sick and dying ones; those that are happy, neglected, fearful and depressed.
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Focus on your heart, read out the following verses, softly or silently, to all beings, far and near.
May all beings be strong and healthy,
May all beings be clear and free,
May all beings live with love and compassion,
May all beings awaken to the pure light they used to be. -
Feel the words you’re saying and repeat them for 5 times or as long as you like.
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As you finished the blessing, imagine time and space fade away. You are united with all beings and all are surrounded by a brilliant healing light of love and compassion that stretches across time and space. Hold this image in your mind for as long as you want.
Useful Tips:
If you’ve difficulty feelings the words, or they come across as forced, there are two possibilities. Either you’re not be ready for the particular part of the meditation, or the words just don’t feel right to you. In the first case, there’s no need to feel discouraged. I suggest you continue working on the previous part first until you’re ready to move on. Say, you’ve having problem imagining all beings, doesn’t matter. Work on someone that you do know first and try to add one more person into your energy field each time. It’s just a matter of time before love and compassion well up to a level that you find it effortless to include all beings in your blessing.
Alternatively, you can also try changing the words to suit your level of comfort. It may also be useful to recall your own struggles and pains in life to help you better appreciate the qualities which you and others crave for.
Creative Uses of Loving-Kindness Meditation
You can choose to practice the 3-part loving-kindness meditation as a standalone practice, or combine it with another meditation technique. For instance, if you’ve been practicing mindfulness meditation, you can begin with loving-kindness meditation first followed by your regular meditation. Here’s a pictorial view of how the different combination could look like:
1. As a standalone:
+ +
2. Combining it with other meditation techniques:
+ + + Mindfulness Meditation
Of course, you can also choose to end your meditation with loving-kindness meditation.
If time is of the essence, or you wish to concentrate on one part at a time, you can begin or close your usual meditation with only one part of loving-kindness meditation each day:
Monday: Mindfulness Meditation +
Tuesday: Mindfulness Meditation +
Wednesday: Mindfulness Meditation +
Thursday: Mindfulness Meditation + , and so on…
My Blessing For You
Thanks for staying with me till this point! And here’s my sincere wish for you:
May you be strong and healthy,
May you be clear and free,
May you live with love and compassion,
May you awaken to the pure light that you used to be!
Your meditation techniques are great!.
I have been practicing them since last week and I feel much more mentally relaxed.
But I am a student and I am having a troublesome time concentrating on my studies.
Which meditation technique do you suggest that would help me build more concentration in my studies and also patcience.
Hello Saurabh Singhi, Thanks for taking the time to write. I’m glad you find this loving-kindness meditation useful. About your question, I’m glad to say that yes, there’s in fact a meditation that is especially helpful in boosting one’s concentration power. Although all meditation techniques, in one way or another, train one’s ability to focus, this meditation that I’ll be pointing you to requires even more concentration and patience, and it’s deceptively simple! Take a look at this article: Meditation to Improve Concentration to find out how you can practice it. Hope you’ll find it helpful. Good luck!