Timeless Wisdom

Meditation for Care-givers on
Loving Kindness ("metta")
May I offer my care and presence unconditionally,
knowing it may be met by gratitude, anger or anguish.

May I find the inner resources to be truly able to give.

May I offer love, knowing that I cannot control the course
of life, suffering or death.

May I remain in peace and let go of expectations.

I care about your pain, but cannot control it.

I wish you happiness and peace,
but cannot make your choices for you.

May this experience help me to open to the true nature
of life.
			Sharon Salzberg
			Loving Kindness


The Buddha's Words on Kindness (Metta Sutta)
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

      
Metta Meditation
(Meditation on "Loving Kindness")
May I be at peace.
May my heart remain open.
May I awaken to the light of my own true nature.
May I be healed.
May I be a source of healing for all beings.
			Joan Borysenko
			Pocketful of Miracles