A warm welcome to you. A warm welcome to all of you, wherever you are in this moment, whatever time zone. Warm welcome to you, to yourself, to welcome yourself in this space, in this body for our practice together.

So for our practice together, we're going to continue with mettā^[1] for self. You can't have enough mettā for self. And as you know, we've been systematically going through the different categories of mettā. We've been hanging out in self for a few days, Diana and myself, because as I said, we just cannot have enough cultivating mettā for ourselves. And one reason for that, many reasons, but one reason for that is when we fill our own cup with our own care, with our own affection, with our own warmth, our hearts can be full, more full, to then give to others.

Whereas if we don't fill our own cup, our own cup of kindness and care for ourselves, and we think, "Oh, other people are more important," and we don't take care of our own heart and our own self with affection, with care, with mettā, then there can be this sense, ever so subtle, that we look to the outside with hungry eyes of, "Love me, love me, love me." We want from the outside what we can give ourselves and we haven't given ourselves. We look for a partner in a relationship to love us and fill us up with love. Yes, that's nice, and yet to give it to us ourselves first, so we're not dependent on that. There is a sense of, "Ah, I love myself." There's a sense of resting in our own kindness, in our own care, holding this person dear. And yes, the other person's care and love can be met with a full heart. We can meet their care and love with a full heart instead of with neediness: "Oh, I need you to love me so that I feel cared for and complete and I feel like a good human being." So, starting with filling our own cup so that we don't need others to fill ours up, and in fact, our cup runneth over. We can fill their cup because ours is filled. There's a sense of abundance. There's a sense of care. There's a sense of fullness of care that can extend to others.

So please do not consider it to be a luxury, or consider it to be selfish or self-centered to take time to cultivate mettā, loving-kindness, for yourself. Please consider it the foundation. Please consider it a crucial service you're doing to the world by caring for yourself so that you can care more freely, with more generosity, with less neediness of heart. There's a sense of generosity. Your heart is full. Yes, it's cared for. It's loved. This being is loved, and I can love others.

So, with that as the preamble. Oh yes, and there is one other thing I want to add, and that is from this beautiful verse from the Bible: Love is patient, love is kind, love does not insist on its own way, and love does not have resentment. So tonight, or this morning whatever your time zone—7:30 a.m. in Sri Lanka as Charie mentioned—in this moment as you practice cultivating mettā for yourself, planting seeds one by one, let there be a sense of patience, a sense of kindness. Not forcing, not willing it to be a particular way. Just patiently, patiently holding presence for yourself. If you're grumpy, hold presence for this grumpy being with kindness. If you're sad, hold kind presence with patience.

So, as an expression of mettā, as the container with which goodwill is held and can expand, it's not a willful cultivation. It's a gentle, soaking kind of cultivation. Patient, kind. Doesn't insist on its own way. Doesn't have resentment. "Oh, I can't do this. I'm a failure at cultivating mettā." Oh sweetie, it's okay. Patience. Just planting seeds. So the definition of "it's working" or "it doesn't work" completely shifts when you take anything that arises, even if it's resistance, with patience, with kindness; it transforms it. It turns the concept that we usually have for worldly things—"it's not working"—on its head when you hold whatever is happening with patience. With patience and with care. Just patience with just this. With just this.

So with that, I'd like to invite us all to get into our meditation posture. Shifting, moving, seeing what your body needs in this moment. Landing yourself. Maybe you need to move and sit on a cushion or lie down. That's okay. Arriving. Arriving. Letting the body soften. As if you're inviting this body with kindness, with patience. Hello darling. Hello sweetheart. Dear body. Dear body which is mine and also not mine. It's a gift of grace, an offering, this mystery of this body, inviting it to soften and relax, to land.

For the forehead to be soft. For the eyes to rest in their sockets. For the jaw to open up perhaps a bit and relax. For the neck and shoulders to drop their weight. For the arms, for the hands to feel heavy and to feel the sensations in the hands touching each other or your lap. For the chest to greet the breath. For the abdomen to greet the breath. For your sit bones, for your bottom to greet the breath and relax, to let go of its weight onto the cushion from the inside. For the upper legs and the lower legs, the feet to give their weight onto the earth.

For the whole body to receive. Receive and relax. Receive the breath. It's not so much that you are breathing. No need to make it into a project, an effort. Consider that the breath has been breathing you all these years. So let it happen. Let it unfold. Just relax. Let it happen. Let yourself be breathed, and just receive gratefully, gratefully, patiently. Gladly being aware that the in-breath is happening, the out-breath is happening.

And if thoughts arise, as they will, let yourself become aware of them with kindness, with patience, and then relax your body. Usually when thoughts arise, a kind of tightness, tension can arise in the body. So with the next out-breath, relaxing the body and releasing the thought in this moment with kindness, as if releasing a little bird, letting it fly, letting it take wings contentedly. Be aware of the breath.

Letting the breath be breathed. Let the body be relaxed with every out-breath, even more so, enjoying each breath as a gift. The moment of refuge, of presence, precious in this present moment. Love is patient. Love is kind. Can there be patience and kindness receiving this breath? In-breath and out-breath right here. Patience, kindness. Turning your gaze inward, into the body where the breath is received.

Now I would like to invite you to bring to mind an image of a being. This could be someone in your life, someone who's living or no longer here. Or it could be an archetype, someone who represents patience, kindness, love unconditionally for you. It could be the Buddha. Or if other iconography works for you from your cultural heritage, Jesus, Mother Mary, or maybe just a being of light, or Kuan Yin^[2]. Again, either a living being or deceased, or maybe someone whom you don't know but like the Dalai Lama or Gandhi represents patience, caring, love unconditionally. So conjuring up, bringing to mind the sense of care, unconditional love.

For this example, as I speak, I'll use the being of light, but of course, please use whomever and whatever really works best for you. Bringing up, conjuring up the sense of this patient, gentle, kind, unconditionally loving being sitting in your presence, sitting with you. And just breathing with you, beaming their love and patience.

And being in their presence, their patient, loving presence, maybe your whole nervous system relaxes. No rush, no expectations. Your heart may relax, soften onto itself, feeling held with infinite patience, infinite kindness, gentleness. There is no agenda. Feeling your body breathing each breath. The presence of this patient, caring, infinitely loving being.

We're letting the kindness and patience of this loving being awaken your own patience, your own gentleness and kindness for yourself. And in the presence of this loving presence, holding yourself with kindness. And if it feels appropriate, holding your heart, your heart center, the middle of your chest. Putting your palm on the middle of your chest, holding yourself with care and sharing the phrases of mettā, held in patience, held in kindness.

May I be safe. May I feel safe from inner and outer harm. Feeling yourself holding yourself, and the being of light, the loving being holding you. The wish of safety. Taking your time with this first wish. May I be safe. May I be safe. Let it soak in. May I be safe. Feeling held in safety by the loving image, loving being. May I be safe from inner and outer harm. May I be safe.

May I be happy. May I be happy and joyful, receiving your own goodwill for yourself and feeling energetically held by the goodwill of this loving being, them wishing you happiness. May I be happy. May I be happy. I wish myself happiness. Lingering with the wish for happiness. Feeling it in your bones, really. Ah, may this heart be joyful. May this heart, my heart be joyous. May it be so.

The third mettā wish: May I be healthy and strong. May I be healthy and strong. And feeling yourself held. The wish, the energetic goodwill wish for your health by the loving being. Patiently, patiently. May this body of mine be healthy and strong.

And may my life flow with ease. May I have ease in my life. And again feeling yourself held by not just your own wish, let it land, but also by the goodwill of this loving being patiently, patiently holding you in goodwill and kindness. May I take care of myself happily. May there be ease in my life.

Now in your own time, relating to whatever elements are most prominent for you. The patience, the love, the care from the loving being that relaxes you, your nervous system. This wordless receiving, or maybe connecting with the phrases of mettā. And if your native tongue is other than English, I highly encourage you to explore saying the phrases of mettā for yourself in your mother tongue. For me, saying them in Farsi was transformational.

And in the last minutes of this practice period, being patient and kind with whatever arose or did not. Trusting we've been planting seeds and they flower when the conditions are right, not when we will them to flower. Be patient, be kind with this planting of seeds, not judging the outcome in this short term, that it worked or didn't work. Patience and kindness with the process. May our cultivation of patience and kindness for ourselves and the world serve goodness in all its forms in this world. May all beings be happy. May all beings be free. Thank you everyone. Thank you for your practice.