I am grateful for the informal education I have undertaken in spiritual matters. A couple of years ago I spent a fair amount of time learning about and practicing various techniques associated with mindfulness meditation. And while I do not wish to misrepresent myself as a Buddhist in any form, I will say that I have come to deeply appreciate various elements of meditation, Buddhist practice and principles, and mindfulness. Today I am particularly grateful for the practice of Metta or Maitri–lovingkindness meditation. This is the practice of wishing people well and sending good thoughts out to a variety of people and beings.
This morning as I drove into work I was offering metta, beginning with myself and working my way through a litany of people to whom I wanted to send kind, loving wishes. Good thing too, because I was going to need it later. I sure hope you can stack up good will and that my first thing in the morning prayers went out across the ethers to the various people I was praying for (I consider it to be somewhat like prayer, though it technically isn’t…), because before I had been at work even an hour I had email interactions with people who irritated me so badly that all my well-wishing flew right out the window.
Most days I begin my lovingkindness meditation by wishing myself good things: May I be peaceful and happy. May I be safe and protected from harm. May I be healthy and strong in body, mind, and spirit. May I live with joy, ease, and wellbeing. I add three or four other wishes for myself before shifting to others. I next offer metta for my family and dear friends, followed by a broad group: my teachers, acquaintances and coworkers, my neighbors, and sort of miscellaneous “neutral” people with whom I interact. Then I turn my attention to the more challenging group of people: those who are referred to in some teachings as my “enemies,” though I refer to these people as “people with whom I struggle, whom I need to forgive, people I have difficult feelings about/toward.” And then I close with the broadest group of all–all beings. And in that I include humans and all beings on this world and beyond. Yes, I offer metta for extraterrestrial life forms and four-legged sidekicks.
I am grateful for all that I learned as I wandered this path. The 18 months I spent regularly participating in sitting meditation and classes at the meditation center had a deep and significant impact on my life at the time and have significantly informed the way I carry myself and walk through the world. While I would hardly say I am an expert and still struggle to restart a stalled meditation practice, I am grateful not simply for the tools and processes I learned, but also the way in which that time shaped and continues to shape me in a variety of profound ways. And I know that restarting my stalled practice is as simple as returnng to the breath, stepping out of my noisy life (go placidly amidst the noise and haste…), and being with whatever shows up.
Sometimes people can absolutely send me over the edge; today was a bit like that. But I really am glad that I began the day by wishing us all well, god knows we need all the lovingkindness we can get. Here at the close of the day, before I take my rest, I will offer metta again, including those beings I encountered today who made me so crazy. We are each wayfarers, sojourners on this path of life and we’re all–well most of us–are doing the best we can. I can hardly argue with or be mad about that. Max Ehrmann says this in The Desiderata: “As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.” Sounds like pretty good advice to me.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings know true happiness and peace. So be it!
