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Happy Hour: Wrapped in a Blanket of Metta

Introduction

Hello again, and formally welcome to Happy Hour. I like our soft beginning at the start where we just say hello, and basically, it's a way of welcoming ourselves, welcoming each other. It's metta^[1] in action. I love that part. It always warms my heart that when folks say hello, and sometimes they share a weather report. Very sweet. And I find that part, which does not get recorded for AudioDharma, in some ways for me to be the landing into the metta space, because we've already started our practice of metta when we arrive in this space, in this community, by saying hello and sharing greetings.

For the theme for this evening's practice, in some ways continuing with the theme from earlier this week from Monday, is the theme of... you know, at this time it's such a busy time of the year for many. It can also be a challenging time of the year. So, metta as a refuge. Metta as a coming home, as a refuge. So that is the theme that I'd like to continue to practice with today: the sense of coming home.

Let me see if there's more I want to say. Maybe I'll just say one more thing before we start. There are so many ways that metta can be practiced. And for this session, for this practice, it's to come home. This feeling of coming home, being nourished, being cared for. And when we come home to our hearts with a sense of care, a sense of nourishing, a sense of love and warm-heartedness for ourselves, we are more available. We are more stable. We are more equanimous^[2]. We're more present to be available with care for others, especially during this time of busyness, both for the holidays and also what's happening in the world. So much happening on our planet right now, and with Omicron affecting so many people on this planet.

Maybe that's enough. Let's just practice together. Let's just enter the space of practice together.

Guided Meditation

I'd like to invite you to land in your seat, in your chair, whatever is most comfortable for you. You may be sitting, you may also be lying down, if that is more comfortable.

Landing. Arriving here. Home. Home in this body. Arriving home.

Letting your breath find home. Find your body, the abdomen. Home. And it's in this moment of sitting, if you find the mind is particularly active, it might be helpful to just put a hand on your belly, in your lower abdomen. Home. Connecting with your body, with your breath, the movements.

Home.

With each breath continuing to connect with the body to arrive home. Connecting with the feet on the floor, letting them relax. Give their weight to the earth.

Home.

And if thoughts are arising, stories, it's okay. Noticing what's arising with kindness. Let yourself be at home here in the body. Home. No need to leave your seat, this nourishing place of the heart.

Home.

Breath nourishing, calming, soothing. Soothing as if a gentle breeze sweeping refreshingly through your home, your body. Home.

Now, if you wish, imagining there is this fuzzy, comfortable blanket. A blanket of care, safety. Just feeling cozy, warm, cared for. Maybe there was such a blanket when you were growing up, when you were a kid maybe, and when you were sick you were bundled in. Maybe not, it's okay, we can always reparent ourselves. Imagine this gift, this blanket of metta. Cozy, comfortable. At home, at home in our bodies. Wrapping ourselves with care, with kindness.

Sweetie, you're home. Sweetie, you're safe. It's okay.

May you be safe. Addressing yourself. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you have ease.

And maybe this imaginary, magical blanket has these messages of metta, of care, goodwill. Feeling held, warm, comfortable, loved. Using as many felt senses... if you're visually imagining yourself wrapped in the blanket, maybe this felt sense of the warmth. Ah, cozy, cared for. Or auditory, maybe hearing phrases of metta, saying them for yourself. Or maybe the blanket is saying them for you: May you be safe. May you be happy. I hold you in safety, happiness, health, and ease. Whatever works for you. It's okay to be creative in this part of the practice; it's a cultivation practice.

Home. Home. Home in your body. Home in your heart.

You are welcome to experiment, if you wish, with putting maybe a hand on the center of your chest, your heart center, and maybe another hand on your belly. This can be a really supportive posture for many. Just feeling at home, holding your heart, your heart center, and your belly. Home. Connecting with yourself. Home. Give it a try, especially if you haven't in the past, or even if you have. See what might open up from this visceral felt sense of touch. Let yourself be surprised.

Metta. Loving-kindness. You're coming home. Coming home.

Feel like you can stay with metta for yourself. A sense of refuge. Taking refuge in kindness, goodwill. Home, at home in your heart and your body. Or if you wish, inspired by this quote from Ryōkan^[3], who said, "Oh, if my monk's robes were wide enough for the entire world." For the entire humanity, for all beings. Oh, if your blanket of metta is wide enough to include, to cover with the kindness, with the goodwill of your heart, all the suffering beings of this world.

Maybe in your mind, whatever imagery works for you. Maybe you imagine yourself perhaps as a little metta fairy, wrapping various beings around the world—people you know, people you don't know. Covering them in blankets of metta, of care. May you be safe. May you be well. May you be free from challenges, suffering. Whatever image works for you in this practice to share, to spread a sense of goodwill as a gift freely, freely from your heart.

You're welcome to stay as long as you wish with any being in your mind's eye. Maybe there are those you know, people you care about, close, dear to you, or suffering. Wrap them in the metta blanket.

Maybe you cover yourself and another being, sharing your blanket with another being. May both of us be safe, happy, healthy, and well, and have ease. Or, May both of us be free from suffering. Whatever is appropriate for you in this practice tonight.

Remember to stay home in your body as you spread metta. Home in your body. Home. If it gets too overwhelming, just come home. Just be in the body, with metta.

And for the last minute or two of this practice, coming home again. Coming home to the body, to your heart. Being wrapped in a blanket of metta, in a blanket of goodwill, care. Here. Home. Home.

Living this human life is heroic enough. Heroic enough for each and every single one of us, with its ups and downs, especially during a global pandemic. Heroic enough. Take a moment to come home to the body. In this heart, take refuge. And wrap yourself with care, kindness. It's okay, it's okay. You are doing your best.

May all beings everywhere be wrapped in blankets of care, metta, goodwill. May all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be happy, well, and free.

Thank you all. Thank you for your practice.

Reflections

Now, I don't know about you, but I had a very long, pretty intense day today. Coming home and being wrapped in a blanket of metta felt really nourishing, supportive—a place of refuge for this heart to then be more available for others.

So what did you notice? What came up for you? You're welcome to raise your Zoom hand. You're welcome to share in chat. Wayne, I see your hand, please.

Wayne: That was just so beautiful. Thank you very much.

Nikki: Thank you, Wayne. Thanks for your practice. Other reflections, please. You can type them in chat. If you type them privately to me, I'll just read the reflection without your name. If it's to everyone, I will read both. Clark, I see your hand, please.

Clark: Yeah, I was just gonna say I feel like doing metta for all beings often feels kind of hard because the phrases sometimes feel sort of artificial, and I don't have a concrete being to imagine. It's sort of like I'm not sure what I'm connecting to. It was fun imagining that my blanket just like went on forever, and as it encountered people, like, wrapped over them. Which sounds kind of scary, but it sounds lovely. It sounds really lovely. But yeah, there was something really tender about the idea of like wrapping a blanket around somebody, right? It helped bring that tenderness alive so it wasn't just sort of like... you know, sometimes you just feel like a metta robot, like you're just repeating the phrases sort of by rote. I really like that image, so thanks.

Nikki: That is so lovely, Clark. Thanks so much for sharing that. I'm just loving the generosity of that image—your blanket expanding and covering everyone it comes in contact with. It's just such a lovely, fun, playful image, right? A way of practicing metta instead of, as you were saying, being a metta robot sometimes, which can feel pretty... yeah, not connecting. But yay, whatever works! The way to connect with the practice. So yeah, the metta blanket is always available to you for yourself and others.

Jane says, "Thank you, Nikki. Love the soft, warm blanket whispering metta and then opening up to include others. Ah, makes me happy just to think of it." Oh, that's lovely. Thank you, Jane, on YouTube, sharing her practice. Very sweet.

Yeah, so any other reflections before we go into small groups and practice together? I see Dave's hand, please.

Dave: Oh yeah, that was really delightful. I noticed on the drive home... I was at the far end of Whidbey Island, it's about 45 miles south, when I looked off in the distance, the world seemed more all of a piece, instead of taken apart by the critical mind. I don't know how to describe it really, but it looked like it did when I was a kid before I learned to take it apart and judge, and well, that's this place and that's, they're no good there, and... And so when I came to this, and you're inviting us to come home, I really do feel like a kid again. So that was very, very apt. Thank you.

Nikki: Beautiful. Wow. Profound. What you shared is so profound because the way often we see the world as children—these fresh eyes, non-judgmental eyes—and what a blessing. I feel so moved in my heart, what a blessing to be able to get that perspective back. Right? To look at the world and see it with those fresh beginner's eyes. How beautiful. I'm getting chills, actually, feeling into what you just shared. Ah. Beautiful. Maybe we'll make that the theme of our practice at some point. Lovely. Thank you, Dave. It's lovely. Yeah, I see so many smiles, yeah.

So, dear ones, if there are no other reflections now, let's turn into small groups. Small community connection is such a great way to connect with other human beings. Share your blanket with each other in these small groups of three, and then we come back and we'll have a little more time and space for reflection. So I'm going to create the rooms now. Let me take a moment to do that. Okay... all right, the rooms are created. I'm going to open them. Please take care of yourselves and each other with the metta blankets coming home. Here we go.

[Break for small groups]

Okay, welcome back everyone. The rooms are closed. And we have a few minutes for any reflections, anything especially that might have come up while you were in groups together sharing your metta blanket with other practitioners. I see some of you actually wrapped in literal blankets right now. It's very sweet.

So, any reflections? Any thoughts you'd like to share? You can raise your hand, type in chat. I see Jerry's hand. Usually I don't see people's hands because I see very few of you, but oh, Jerry, can you raise your Zoom hand? It'll be so much easier to ask you to unmute. Well, here we go, there.

Jerry: So I was... in our group, we were reflecting about how this practice... both for some of us on the East Coast, it's near ten... but for all of us, we were reflecting on how just a little... it's like an analogy that I said was like, if someone cracks a joke and it's appropriate and in good spirit, the next person you see, no matter what's going on in your life, is a little lighter. So you're smiling, and they may not know why you're smiling, and it just sort of lifts things a bit. So I was reflecting that this work that both of you and Diana are doing, it just takes the edge off some of the things in life and allows you to not get lost in the weeds. Not to go deep down and sort of reflect, and frankly be a bit nicer to people, whoever they are, as you go through life. And if you don't do it, you can get deep into the weeds faster than you would like. So that's the thought that was coming up.

Nikki: That's lovely. Thank you. Beautiful. Yeah, not getting into the weeds, and coming up a little faster. And I like that, you know, Happy Hour is like a good joke that keeps your spirits up, or maybe keeps your heart warmed. And that's actually similar to a comment someone else made which I had missed earlier on YouTube, who said, "Thank you for always reminding me of what's important and how to be." And that's similar, you know, a reminder, just a little reminder to our hearts of how to be. How to be, just touching into that. Yeah, thank you Jerry, that is lovely. Yeah, so meaningful.

So, such beautiful reflections to bring us to the end of the hour. So let us close this hour of practice. Practicing goodwill, kindness, cultivating it for ourselves and others. Dedicating the merit, the goodness, as a part of our service. This cultivation is a gift. It's not something we keep for ourselves with a tight fist, but we share with all beings everywhere.

May all beings everywhere be free. May they be reminded of their own goodness. May all beings everywhere be happy, including ourselves.

Thank you all.