Compassion Meditation for Time of War (text)
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Preliminaries
So first of all setting up a comfortable, upright posture.
Take your awareness through your body and relax each muscle. Start with your feet, and work your way up to your head and face.
Take your awareness into your heart, sensing whatever emotions are present.
Accept that whatever is there is where you are starting from.
First Stage: cultivating metta
Start by cultivating metta – love and appreciation – for yourself. Imagine or feel that the emotions in your heart are a pool of water. Drop thoughts into your heart like flower petals into a pool. Maintain an awareness and sensitivity towards the ripples coming from the flower petals as the thoughts sink into the depth of your being.
So we repeat, “May I be well, may I be happy, may I be free from suffering.” Letting each phrase fall into the pool of our heart, being aware of and sensitive to the ripples coming from these flower petals. And keep bringing your awareness back to your heart with patience and kindness.
Second Stage: a suffering person
Call to mind someone you know personally and who is suffering in some way; either physically or psychologically. It’s probably best at this stage not to pick someone who is overwhelmed by suffering. That might be too much for us. Call that person to mind, and wish them well. May they be well, may they be happy, may they be free from suffering.
You don’t actually have to cultivate compassion; it just happens. Simply wish this person well as you call them to mind as a suffering person and notice what ripples travel through the still pool of your heart as your love meets their suffering.
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