The week's meditation is on lovingkindness, the ability to experience love without attachment. Traditionally, lovingkindness evolves from first experiencing lovingkindness toward one's self. So, to feel respectful and appreciative of one's essence, actions, and spirit without feeling the need to control situations, others, or the future. Then, as that sense unfolds, one seeks lovingkindness toward others, first those close to us, then eventually toward those whom we find difficult or challenging--practicing lovingkindness toward enemies.
The meditation is:
May I be filled with lovingkindness
May I be well
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be happy.
In the sweaty group solitude of spin class this morning I repeated the mediation over and over. But as I thought more deeply about it and added images to each statement, the meditation became:
May I fully appreciate all who are here and the instructor who is so admirably invested in this class; those friends who are here and share running and biking tips. May I not take casual friendships for granted.
May I be filled with vitality and energy; have strong muscles and appreciation for my abilities--and grateful that I can breathe...and brought plenty of water.
May I take in the luxury of this class and settle fully into the rhythm of hard physical work.
May I find humor in my life and not take my accomplishments too seriously or mistakes with too much self-deprication; may I be open to learning and always spontaneous.
The benefits of practicing lovingkindness are many, at least to me. This week has been filled with family illness, some difficult personal decisions, the seemingly always present problem of finding enough time to get all tasks completed, concern about friends in LA (Paula, John, Peter...are you all okay??); a guy who locker nears me and who has been noticeably absent for the past month appeared yesterday, gaunt with post-chemo emaciation...a cancer diagnosis less than a month old following a visit to a physician to find out about his recurring acid reflux, which is esophageal cancer...The list of problems could go on.
But in the midst of this I am reminded that this journey, as Kornfield says, "doesn't get better and better. It gets better and worse, and better and worse..." So, some good physical activity and a little meditation can't hurt.
