This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Happy Hour: Hello Human Kindness

Hi everyone. Welcome to everyone joining on Zoom, on YouTube, and on Audiodharma asynchronously later in time. It is lovely to feel your presence, to join the sangha^[1]. It is so nice, just so lovely. My heart is already warmed up with the hellos. Even though it seems like we're just saying hello, it's an expression of human kindness that we show up. We show up and we say hello. We say hi, maybe we smile, maybe we wave. Human kindness is everywhere, just showing up with our heart.

The theme for tonight is "Hello, Human Kindness." I'm actually borrowing this phrase from a health network that's local here in California. I've seen their ads previously on various billboards and buses and I thought, "Huh, how interesting. Hello, human kindness." Today it just came up for me: hello, human kindness. Kindness is everywhere. If we say hello—the same way that we show up and we say hello, and we get seen, we get recognized—we can also recognize human kindness in so many places. It's all around us. It's within us. We can recognize it in ourselves.

We often don't see it. Our minds focus on what's negative, what people did wrong, what we did wrong, and all the ill will. Not to say that noticing wholesome intentions and turning our minds towards the wholesome always isn't important, and noticing what's unskillful is important. Yet, it is important to notice kindness.

Let's do a little exercise. First, look around wherever you're sitting. Look around the room where you are. Just take a look. Okay. Now, if I say, "notice the color blue," look around. See where you see blue in places you hadn't noticed before because you were not looking for it. Ah, there's more blue than I realized here. Look at that, a lot more blue.

Now, what if I asked you to notice the color red? Yeah, it's actually kind of nice to notice, right? To notice these vibrant colors jumping out, which I hadn't noticed were there before. I do this with so many colors, but the point I want to make is that it's here. There's so much in our field of vision, especially visually, that we don't pick out. Our minds are everywhere. We're not paying attention to colors. In the same way, there's so much that we're thinking about, planning, and regretting, that we don't tune into human kindness. We don't tune to human kindness, and it's all around us. There's a vibrancy, like the vibrancy of these colors—I'm going to choose red, such a vibrant color, one of my favorite colors—all around, but we won't notice the vibrancy of human kindness.

So, the theme tonight is "Hello, Human Kindness," both within ourselves, outside, inside. Tuning into it as if we're tuning a radio. Maybe we don't hear it at all at first. Maybe we just had a really long, hard day. Let's tune into the channel of human kindness, letting our hearts be nourished by this channel. That's the invitation for tonight. I'll give some guidance, some invitations, and feel free to adapt them to whatever works for you, whatever is needed right now.

Just one more thing to say for those who might be new: we always start with settling, landing the breath and the body to stabilize and calm the mind. Then, I open up to the invitations. Without further ado, let's begin.

If you need to shift or move your body, do so with kindness. Ask what this body needs in this moment so that it can settle and be happy, as happy as possible, sitting for the next thirty minutes of meditation.

Guided Meditation

Arriving here.

Hello, body. Hello, body. Hi. How are you? What do you need, dear? What do you need in this moment? Let's see what answer arises.

Hello, breath. Hello, body. Hello, feet. Hello, any tension in my neck, shoulders, forehead, my jaw, my arms, my hands... my chest.

Hello, my heart. Whatever is arising, whatever emotions are present here, I can release, release around them. Release the body. Let go of the out-breath. Make space.

And if thoughts are arising, if the mind is moving from the body to thoughts, it's okay. It's all right. Hello, thoughts. Hello, thoughts. Can you say hello to thoughts with kindness?

Can we say hello to the breath of the body again, calming, soothing this breath, as if this breath is a gift of kindness from the world, from the universe? This oxygen that keeps us alive. The right mix of oxygen and nitrogen in the breath.

Let there be this settling in your body. Breath intertwined with kind awareness.

Now, I'd like to invite you, if you would, as you stay embodied in the body with the breath, feeling the breath in the abdomen, lowering the center of gravity: bring to your heart—not to your head, but to your heart space—someone who recently did an act of kindness, no matter how small. And feel it in your heart space. The kindness, the goodness, the generosity of the act. Not to think about it, analyze it, why they did it or other motives. No, not get heady. Just feel the goodness with your heart.

Hello, human kindness. Relishing, resting. Receiving it with your heart. Letting the goodness land. Not getting in your own way: "I don't deserve it," "it's too big," "too this," "too that." None of that. Just simply see what happens. Experiment. Experiment with letting yourself fully receive this act of kindness, thoughtfulness, care, whatever it might have been.

Breathing into your heart center, letting your body relax with this gift. No feeling of obligation, just receiving. Receiving is the biggest gift we can give others: to receive their kindness graciously. Practice gracious receiving in this moment. Maybe the words or the feeling of appreciation, gratitude, or "thank you"—these words bubble up to your heart.

Hello, human kindness. Hello. Nice to feel you.

And gently opening up your heart wider, maybe there's another act of kindness, thoughtfulness, care. Maybe a phone call from a friend or family member: "I thought about you." Hello, human kindness. Letting your heart open to appreciating that now.

And you can open up, if you like, to another act of kindness. Maybe somebody is making time for you, has made time for you. Sharing their resources, their skills, their presence, their care.

Hello, kindness. Hello. Hello.

You can open up your heart, just allowing these kindnesses, these gifts to arise. Not so much going out and searching for them, but letting them come up if they do. And if not, then staying with the last one. Just staying and relishing, appreciating. This is not a thinking practice. It's a feeling. It's an opening of the heart and letting kindness, goodness arise. Appreciating, relishing, as visitors who come and knock on your door. You open the door, you say, "Hello. Hello, kindness. Hello, human kindness." You don't go out searching all over town, because there is no need. They're going to knock on your door. Just hang out. Be relaxed and spacious in your heart space.

Sit with these. So many kindnesses. Not just from yesterday or today or earlier in the week, but maybe earlier in your life. So many gifts of kindness arise. Hello, human kindness. Not to think about it, again, just rest. Best to take it slow, so the mind isn't jumping from one thought to the next. Stay. Stay for a while with whatever arises.

And now you can continue in this way, or let's turn around and allow yourself to relish your own kindness. Appreciating your own kindness. Maybe we start with you to yourself, as if you're a beloved other. Maybe you're feeding yourself something healthy, wholesome. Or resting when you need to rest. Or being gentle with yourself when you make a mistake. Or if you feel sad, you're kind with yourself: you let yourself be sad and feel the emotions.

There are so many ways we can be kind to ourselves. Choose one. Maybe you refer to yourself in terms of endearment. Maybe you care for this body by brushing its teeth, washing it. Hello, kindness. What if we saw these as acts of kindness, not as these boring things we have to do? What if we saw them as acts of kindness? Shift the frame.

Now, if you like, opening up the door and inviting in acts of care, generosity, thoughtfulness to others. Letting yourself relish, yeah, this is kindness. Hello, kindness. Hello, human kindness. Maybe you were recently supportive to a friend. Let yourself relish that kindness.

Lastly, you can also keep the door open and welcome in acts of kindness you witnessed. Can you appreciate someone doing something for someone else? Let them brighten your heart. Acts of generosity, care, love. Hello, human kindness. Hello. So much kindness all around. Hello, kindness. Hello. Hello.

As we near the end of this practice period, let all these acts of kindness everywhere—to you, from you, from others to different people, all this kindness all around, rippling through the world beautifully, beautifully—let it fulfill your heart with gladness. Hello, human kindness. All around, through me, as an expression of my being, and those of others. More and more inhabiting, living more fully into human kindness.

May all beings everywhere know kindness, their own and those of others. May kindness, goodness prevail in the world. May all beings be free, including ourselves.

Thank you for your practice. Hello. Hello, human kindness.

Reflections and Q&A

So we have time for reflections, for questions, comments. What arose for you? What did you notice? Any aha moments, perhaps to share for the benefit of yourself and others as a gift? Any challenges too, it's all welcome. And if you type in chat, if you type to me privately, I won't read your name, so it'll be a private comment. If it's typed to everyone, I will read your name. You can also raise your Zoom hand, especially if you haven't spoken for a while. I'd love to hear from you. Reflections. Hello. Hello, what did you discover in this practice?

Fosu, please.

Fosu: Hi. A lot of the stuff that came up in terms of when I was thinking of kindness from me, and I was like, oh, these are things that are manifesting as a result of this practice. That was nice to see.

Nikki: Oh, sweet. That is so sweet. Thanks for sharing that, Fosu. So if I heard that correctly, just realizing that many of the things that are manifesting as a result of this practice you're doing, the mental practices are coming to fruition in acts of kindness. Did I hear that correctly?

Fosu: Yeah, pretty much, yeah.

Nikki: Oh, that's so beautiful. Yay. Wow, to celebrate that! And as the Buddha says, whatever you reflect and ponder upon frequently, that becomes the inclination of your mind. So as you ponder upon kindness, that becomes the inclination of not just your mind, but the inclination of your heart and your body in acts of kindness. Yay! I celebrate that. It's beautiful. Thanks for sharing that, Fosu, and it's so true. So true.

Radha, I see your hand, please.

Radha: Hi. I feel like this practice was really good for me at the moment because I've been having a really difficult past month. I've been having housing issues and having to move like every week and stuff. And yeah, I guess I just realized, I think when you're in that sort of situation it's really hard to receive the kindness that people show you, because you're kind of in that headspace of trying to figure out, well, what if it goes wrong, or "No, I don't need that, I need this." It just really helped when you said to just drop into the heart and the belly and just receive it there rather than being in the head. Even just the intention that people show—the amount of people who have offered that I could stay with them and stuff—it was really heartening. Yeah.

Nikki: Oh, thanks so much for sharing that. That is so beautiful. And as you were saying, of course it is challenging and it's difficult. Moving frequently takes a toll on the mind—always planning and a new environment. And as you've shifted to receiving so much kindness... oh my goodness, my heart feels full, feeling the goodness, the generosity of people who are supporting you and offering you to stay with them. How beautiful is that? Hello, human kindness! How beautiful. Thank you for sharing that, that is so sweet. Thank you. That's lovely. I don't know if you wanted to say something else, I saw your hand moving.

Radha: Yeah, I guess I just wanted to add, I was thinking about that because I heard this saying the other day of someone talking about joy, and they were like, "You know, there's no such thing as perfect joy, because as humans we're always feeling more than one emotion at any given time." So that thought sort of came to me as well, like there's no such thing as perfect kindness either, but to just receive the kindness that is there along with everything else.

Nikki: Exactly. Yes, it's just receive what there is. And that was another invitation I was giving at the time. I was suggesting to feel into the heart space, not to analyze, "Oh yeah, this is a little kind, it's a little thought, you know, it's a little selfish." Just let go of all that. Just tune into the channel of kindness. And in that way, actually—now I'm going to suggest something completely different—in that way you can feel into the perfect kindness of it, right? If you really see that aspect, it's like earlier when I was suggesting to look for the color red. "Well, yeah, there's a lot of blue and yellow and maybe it's not pure, but I'm just going to look at the red." Oh, and it's beautiful! It's perfect! My heart gets filled with joy. So that's another practice to bring in. Thank you for that, Radha, beautiful.

Graham from YouTube says, "There is so much kindness in the world that I take for granted." Thank you, Graham, for that beautiful insight. Yes, so much kindness, and then we turn towards it.

And Jerry says, "It was a struggle to drop the unkind words and actions of others, but then the kind actions dominated." Beautiful, that's lovely. Yay, let the kindness prevail! Beautiful.

Breakout Groups

So, dear friends, let us transition to small groups practicing together, receiving and sharing simple human kindness with each other. This is a sandbox, and especially if you've had a hard day, week, or month, it is nice to just feel into this simple, grounding practice.

The invitation for the practice is that the groups will be roughly a size of three, and each person—listen carefully—each person will speak only from their own experience. It's an "I" statement: "This is what this practice was like for me," or you can be silent when your time comes, you can say "pass." And you share just one nugget. If you have five things to say, you only say one of them. Then, after you've said that, you pass it on to the next person, and the next person will speak from their own experience. You don't ask questions. You don't direct. You don't manage. You don't work as a facilitator in the small group. You just show up with your own kindness, sharing your own experience and receiving those of others. Just stay close to your heart, to your own experience. Only "I" statements, so we can keep the container safe for everyone, not transgressing.

And again, the way you show up with kindness tonight might just be holding space, being silent, and really listening to others. Maybe that's what's appropriate for you. So, hello, human kindness, whatever you'd like to share about this practice for you. Creating the rooms... here we go, opening them. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other.

Okay, the rooms are closed. Everybody's back. We just have about a minute, maybe just a quick comment. If somebody who hasn't spoken has a quick reflection, we'll fit it in before we close. Any takers? Anything that revealed itself to you in the rooms that was surprising?

Closing

Richard, what's up, Richard?

Richard: Hi, quick. I've been coming here for a long time, and I've been waiting all this time for this feeling, this feeling of metta^[2] to overflow and warm my heart. But reflecting, you know, every time I just talk to people, neighbors and people in the building and whatnot, there's simply just a genuine friendliness. And I guess my metta has been here all along, I just didn't know it. That's it.

Nikki: Richard, oh my god, I am so glad you raised your hand to say this. I so appreciate what you said. That's exactly it. That's metta. It's been here all along. It's been waiting for you. "Hello, Richard. I've been here all along." Ah, thank you. That warms my heart. That's profound. Thank you.

Thank you, Richard, and thank you everyone for your practice, for your kindness, for extending kindness to yourself and to each other. Deep bows of appreciation.

Let's dedicate the merit^[3] of our practice. May all beings everywhere, may they be free. May they know the kindness that's all around, through all the kindnesses in their lives, with their neighbors, friends, family—all the kindnesses, all the metta overflowing. May all beings be well. May all beings be happy. Thank you, everyone.