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Happy Hour: Metta -- The River Within & Without

Introduction

Okay, alright, so a formal hello and welcome to all of you, dear friends, wherever in the world you are, whatever the time zone might be. I am happy to be with you, happy that the sangha^[1] is assembled, and we get to practice together. How sweet, how special.

For the theme for today's practice, I wanted to invite us to consider the juxtaposition of the times, which is what's happening with the new variant, the Omicron variant, and the world being on edge. It seems like we're heading into another period of challenge in the world. We've already been in the midst of a challenging period, and it's about to get even more challenging. So, not to turn away from that, and also to acknowledge that metta^[2]—loving-kindness, good will for ourselves and others—is a resource in tough times. It is a refuge that soothes and calms the heart and mind for ourselves and for others, so that we can be more available for ourselves and for others. So it's a "both/and."

That's the consideration I'd like to bring in for our practice this evening. Not to turn away from the challenges in the world, and yet knowing that, trusting that, our practice of metta, of good will for ourselves and for others, is refreshing. It is renewing. It is a refuge, really. It's our heart's refuge, and we can offer that stability, that care, that warmth both to ourselves and to everyone else in the world. Even if many people we might have contact with and speak with might be very upset and experiencing challenges, for us to just be stable with kindness. Just this sense of stability, open-heartedness with kindness.

So that's the setting, that's the background. Let's delve in, dear ones, let's delve in together.

Guided Meditation

I'd like to invite you to land, to arrive. Arrive more fully. Arrive in this moment, in this body. Taking refuge in the simplicity of this moment. Letting go of whatever has come, whatever might have come before this, whatever busyness, whatever stress or worry. Just for a moment, bowing to it, saying thank you, I'm going to take some minutes of refuge to refresh my heart, to refresh myself. To connect more deeply with my humanity. To connect the capacity of this heart to be tender, to be vulnerable if it needs to be, to be held with care, and love, and rest.

Landing, landing in the body. Feeling our feet on the ground. Grounded, well-rooted, as if our feet are kissing the earth. As if our feet are kissing the earth. I am here. This blessed earth. These blessed feet. This magic of this life. Here. Here.

Letting the sit bones embrace the cushion, the chair. Letting go of the weight. Ah, releasing, releasing. Releasing what you're holding onto in your thoughts. Ah, releasing, arriving more fully here. I'm here. Giving yourself fully to this moment of refuge. To this beautiful, amazing now-ness right here. Mystery.

Relaxing, releasing into this river. This river, it's always now. Time passes and yet it's always now. As if you're releasing, relaxing, floating. Being held by healing, nourishing waters. Let the stream carry you lovingly. There is nothing you need to do or be. Let the soft animal of your body^[3] relax. Let your heart relax. Receiving the lullaby of the breath in the lower abdomen. Floating, floating.

If thoughts, judgments, whatever is not helpful right now arises, release it. Release it into this healing river. Opening your hand, you don't need to hold on to any of them. Let yourself be nourished and held. Just this breath being received in a soft, relaxed body.

Healing waters, healing waters. Healing waters of metta, nourishing, feeling held. The more you soak in the perfect temperature of the waters, the more tightness, tension, and challenging thoughts—the more they wash away gently, gently, the more you soak. There is a simile called the simile of the cloth in the teachings of the Buddha. Like a cloth that's being soaked with stains, slowly, slowly feeling water seep in. As if supporting, nourishing every cell. Every cell of your body, your heart, your mind. It's okay. It's okay. I am held. It's okay, I'm held. I'm held in kindness, and care, and safety.

Realizing, knowing these healing, soothing waters, the river flowing outside is also flowing inside. Nature outside, nature inside. Inside this body, heart, mind, nourished from the healing waters. There is a river that runs through you. A river that runs through me. A nourishing, loving, caring river. It soothes, nourishes, cares for. Here, here. Now, now. It's okay. Wherever internally in the body, the mind, the heart, there are challenges, or maybe no challenges in this moment, the river flows. Let it flow, don't get in its way. Let it flow. You don't have to make it flow, it does so on its own simply. Don't get in the way. Relax, release.

Let this body, this heart, this mind be held. Externally, internally, in good will, metta, care. If the phrases support your staying with the feeling of metta, please bring them in. If you like to stay with the feeling alone, that's fine too. We'll allow for one round of the phrases.

May I, may this being who is me, be safe. Safe and protected from inner and outer harm.

Fully well-knowing that events in life, so many of them, are uncontrollable, beyond my control, ungovernable, and yet I wish myself with kindness this safety without attaching to it, offering it to myself as a gift.

May I be safe.

May I be happy and have joy in my heart.

May I be healthy and strong as much as it may be available to me.

Offering this gift, this wish to myself. Wishing myself well.

And may my life unfold with ease.

Feeling the river of care, the nourishing river of metta flowing. Flowing through your heart, through your body, through your mind. Nourishing, enlivening, healing, soothing. River inside, river outside. Knowing, trusting that water is this: if something is hot or burning, water cools. If something is cold, shivering, water warms, brings comfort. See what is needed, see what is needed.

Now if you wish, bringing to mind some beings in your life for whom it's easy for you to feel metta and care. As if you were sharing these healing waters from your heart, that are both inside, outside, no difference between the metta that's inside and outside. Maybe they too are joining you in this healing body of water. Whatever works for you, whatever imagery. It could be a river, it could be a lake, it could be a safe, healing ocean with undulating waves, warm, soothing. Whatever might work for you. Or maybe a warm bath.

The healing, the soothing, the metta, the river running through you is fed by this body of water and also it feeds it. It feeds this body of water that your loved ones are held in. Don't try too hard, let it be whatever is easiest.

May you all, may all of us be safe.

May all of us, including yourself, together with people who are dear to you, may all of us be happy.

May all of us be healthy.

May all of us have ease.

For the last minute or two of this practice period, let bodies of water, rivers, evaporate into the air. They become clouds, they become rain. Continuing with the healing waters metaphor, imagining this soothing, healing, metta-filled rain all over the earth for all beings everywhere. This planet of ours hurting. So many beings hurting—the pandemic, climate change, etc. So many being soothed, cared for with this metta rain, yourself included.

May all beings everywhere, including ourselves, know the refuge of a loving, kind heart, a peaceful heart.

May all beings, including ourselves, be free.

Reflections

Thanks everyone. Thanks for your practice. So we have some time for reflections, questions, comments, and reports from the field—how the practice was for you, how you're doing, what worked, what didn't work. It's all welcome. The invitation is for you to share your practice as a gift to others. When you share your insights or challenges, as you well know by now, it supports others.

Mima: Thank you. I thought it was so appropriate tonight with this meditation, because you see what's going on in the world, and sometimes hearing people speak, you know, I know I hurt for them. And I felt reminded of metta being the antidote to suffering. And that's kind of what I was floating and bathing in as an antidote to what we see going on in the world right now. So I thought it was a very appropriate thing for tonight. Thank you.

Nikki: Thank you, Mima. Yeah, and with so much suffering, you know, metta gets transformed into compassion^[4]. Compassion can hold the suffering. It just, it's—as you're using the word antidote—yes, it's the medicine. Maybe that's what I would use, it's the medicine. It doesn't negate it, but it just, it's the medicine. It's the salve. Beautiful. Thank you, Mima. I appreciate your reflections.

Louisa on YouTube appreciates the beautiful water meditation. She went to a beautiful waterfall, she says, and it was very synchronistic for her with gratitude, feeling held in peace. Lovely, thank you.

Bill says thank you for the peace of mind. Ah, delighted to hear there's a sense of peace.

So, since I don't see any other comments coming, how about we turn to small groups, small sangha practice. And when we come back, we'll have some more time for reflections. So you know by now how precious, how important it is to have a community, to have sangha, even if it may be spending just a few minutes checking in with fellow travelers. It is so important, it is so nourishing. It is to feed them with the river of our metta and to be nourished by their river of metta. So take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and I'll open the rooms in a moment. And if you can't stay, please do, and if you have to go—not out of fear of talking with other folks, but if you have to go—it's okay. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other. Okay. So I'm opening the rooms now. Here we go. The rooms will close in about 10 seconds, so we'll wait for everyone to come back.

[Breakout rooms session]

Okay, everyone is back. Welcome back folks. So we have some more time for reflections, questions, comments. What came up? Please, I would love to hear. [Laughter]

Bill says our group was too relaxed to talk. [Laughter] I love it, I love it. [Laughter]

You know, that's what happens when you soak in healing waters like you've been soaking. It's like, "Wow, I've just been to the hot tub of metta." Oh my goodness, Christine says ours too. Oh, did I just put you all into a—what should I call it? A meditative kind of... Oh, that is too cute. That is too sweet. Hey Parker! So Dave says that's what I was saying. Oh my god, we talked about cat videos. Oh my god, this is too funny you guys.

Would anybody like to share, to put their voice into the room, or just be in chat? Maybe you don't feel like talking, I don't blame you. I'm pretty chilled myself now. You know, we might just end early tonight and go take a bath, a real metta bath, and continue to practice metta in the bath, being held in healing waters and feeling your own healing and loving energy of metta. Any takers for any last-minute comments or reflections, besides that you're too chilled to talk?

Jerry, please.

Jerry: The comment, building on what's been said, but the word that struck me was "the lullaby of the breath." When you said that, combined with letting go of various—perhaps "what ifs and buts clubs," you might call it—it particularly struck me, the lullaby of the breath, which I hadn't sort of thought about. And I was just like, "Oh, it's like a chiropractic moment," just like, "Oh, I can let go of this stuff." And so it speaks to what everyone else was thinking. I thought, "Wow, this is a powerful thought, a lullaby of a breath." So that's what I have to say.

Nikki: Thank you, Jerry. Thanks for reflecting that back and highlighting that. The lullaby of the breath, yeah, you caught that. Yes, and others too, it feels like that, right? It can feel, when you tune into it, there's just a lullaby quality, this soothing, calming, just so nourishing. Yeah, it's all right here. Yeah. What did you say though? "But ifs" and something else club?

Jerry: Oh, you're still on mute. Well, I heard a patient say to me the "what ifs and buts club."

Nikki: What ifs and buts club! I like that! What's this but... you know? So I like that, the "what ifs and buts club." So I thought, let go of the what ifs and buts club and just fall into the lullaby of the breath. Wow, I think that's a great quote. Let go of the what ifs and buts club and release into the lullaby of the breath. Alright, I'm going to write that down. I love it, we co-created that, Jerry. Or fall into the lullaby, like instead of a hammock, you know, a hammock. Okay, I want to go take a nap now. For those of you on the East Coast, this is perfect timing.

It's sweet. Thanks, Jerry. Thanks so much. Any other last-minute reflections before we bring our session to a close? We've got a couple of minutes.

Thank you. Thank you for that message, Fred. Thank you, Walt.

Let's bring our lovely session to a close. It's so nice to see you. It's so nice to be with you again, I've missed you. It just gives me so much joy and delight to be back together practicing. What a lovely community, yay. Every single one of you, every single one of us is important. Your presence makes this community so. Thank you. Deep, deep bows of appreciation.

May you all be well, safe, happy.

May all beings everywhere be free.

Thank you.