This week’s theme, Heart-Mind, combines the unifying qualities of unconditional love with the expansive qualities of universal wisdom. Love and wisdom are foundational aspects of consciousness and both are put to right use in a Lovingkindness meditation, which we will practice today.
Specific words are used in this guided meditation. Each stanza consists of four sentences, “May you be filled with Loving Kindness. May you be well. May you know peace and ease. May you be happy.” They can be repeated silently or aloud, or they may be realized by simply listening to the voiced guidance in the meditation.
The words of a Loving Kindness meditation hold a very high vibration. They become easily accessible due to their simplicity. The task of the meditator is to stay in alignment—comfortable in the body, steady in the emotions, and clear in the mind—while registering the sentence in the brain and holding its essence in the warmth of the heart. The brain? Yes, the brain. By simply hearing or reciting these words, they engage areas of the brain associated with empathy, compassion, and interconnectivity. This exercise reinforces synaptic connections that promote your wellbeing and your capacity to positively influence the world around you.
Loving Kindness meditation dates back well over two thousand years and it is practiced daily by tens of thousands of practitioners. Why? Because it is effective and because a heart-centered approach to life is healthy in every way.
Loving Kindness is also the first of the “Four Immeasurables,” which is a translation of the Buddhist term brahmavihara. These are: Loving Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equinimity. These are also powerful words and states of being. Meditation can show us the way to these virtues.
In my humble opinion, the Four Immeasurables are the arms and legs of Heart-Mind. Loving Kindness and Compassion are the legs; working with these practices allows us to move through the world with generosity, harmlessness, and grace. Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity are the arms, which allow us to tap into our inner wisdom and innate goodwill, lead a life of meaning and purpose, and thrive through inspiration, intuition, and creative living.
They are called the ‘immeasurables’ because, quite simply, they are just that dynamic and incomprehensibly expansive and penetrating. Whenever we hit a wall in a circumstance, relationship, or in life itself, one of these is not being practiced or understood. Today’s meditation gives us experience with the first of the four.
If you’d like to read more about the Four Immeasurables, there’s plenty out there; why not do a web search? I promise it will be worthwhile. Or, here’s a well-written article from Lion’s Roar Magazine: https://www.lionsroar.com/four-immeasurables-leave-nothing-untouched/
Happy meditating!